Tall Orders

Lack of political ownership on restructuring military commands leaves the next Chief of Defence Staff with a massive challenge / Security

- SUSHANT SINGH

The untimely death last month of Bipin Rawat, the country’s longest-serving four-star military officer, attracted a lot of public attention, mostly laudatory and eulogising the current political dispensation’s favourite general. His legacy as the chief of defence staff, nearly two years after he became the inaugural incumbent in the post, however, remains contested. The burden of this contested legacy, both political and military, will be borne by his successor, who has an unenviable job on his hands.

When Rawat was announced as the CDS, in December 2019, he was tasked with creating much greater synergy among the three armed forces, working on a three-year timeline. He specifically had to facilitate the “restructuring of Military Commands for optimal utilization of resources by bringing about jointness in operations, including through the establishment of joint/theatre commands.” The restructuring of military commands was the main goal driving Rawat and is the touchstone by which his abridged tenure as CDS has to be judged. For all of Rawat’s perceived closeness to the executive and the political backing he received, his progress on this has been patchy.