CDS (Chief of Defence Staff) to act as single-point military advisor to PM on security issue

India now has a newly established Department of Military Affairs (DMA) headed by a newly created post, the CDS (Chief of Defence Staff) that will act as a single-point military advisor to the Government on all security related matters. This report takes a closer look at the need for creating such a post and how it will help India’s defence forces.

India’s defence forces consists of the Army, Navy and the Air Force, and in the past, each of these streams had its own chief. Any discussion with the Prime Minister on National security related matters required the presence of each of the chiefs. Of all the recommendations given to the Prime Minister by military experts, one of them was the need for a single-point military advisor who would advise the government on all matters related to the military. The recommendation was first made by a committee that examined the military’s performance during the 1999 Kargil conflict, and felt India’ response could have been better had there been one point of contact from the defence forces reporting to the Prime minister. So, it was recommended that a new top role be created for India’s defence forces.

The Government of India was convinced with the recommendations made, and were waiting for the right moment and the right candidate to make the announcement. Finally, on December 24, 2019, the Government formally established the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) who would also head the newly established Department of Military Affairs (DMA) that has been created under the Ministry of Defence. The government released the charter and duties of the CDS and said that the post would be occupied by a four-star officer from the Indian Army, Indian Navy or the Indian Air Force. Instead of 3 chhiefs (Army, Navy, Airforce) directly reporting to the PM, the CDS of India will now report directly to the PM.

Few days later after the announcement was made, the government also amended the rules of the Army, Navy and the Air Force to allow a Chief of Defence Staff to serve until the age of 65. Currently, the three service chiefs retire after either completing three years in office or once they reach the age of 62, whichever is earlier. So, the Chief of Defence Staff can now serve till the age of 65. General Rawat is the first officer to hold the post of the Chief of Defence Staff, which was set up. He would head the Department of Military Affairs (DMA).

The idea of creation of such a post goes back to as early as Lord Mountbatten. Years later, it was General K. V. Krishna Rao who advanced the creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff in 1982. However, officially, it was only following the Kargil Review Committee’s recommendation in 1999 that the Group of Ministers (GoM) officially proposed the creation of the post of CDS.

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) would be in direct contact with the Prime Minister to discuss security issues, and the chiefs of the Army, Navy and the Air Force would report to the CDS. All the service operations, including the newly made divisions of cyber, space and special forces, will come under the office of the Chief of Defence Staff. The new department (DMA) is expected to cut the red tape and bureaucratic bottleneck that often cause delays for decisions on military reforms and critical procurement. The department will have a mix of officers from the three services and it will also have expert civilians working together.

The CDS is the highest role in India’s defence forces and will be expected to integrate the combined operations of the armed forces and also streamline the weapons procurement process. The CDS will focus on promoting jointness in procurement, training and staffing and facilitation the restructuring of military commands for optimal utilisation of resources. It is widely expected that the Chief of Defence Staff will be able to better synergise the operations of the three armed forces — the Army, Navy and the Air Force — and reduce wasteful expenditure by better coordinating the procurement plans of the three services. In the event of an conflict, the CDS will be in a better position to assess the situation without any partial view. Also, with the CDS heading the military department, the military hopes that their direct access to the Defence Minister will not only help the armed forces on financial and military related matters, but it will also help the defence forces on matters of appointments of key positions.

Among the first few reforms proposed by the new CDS was the creation of an Air Defence Command, and following the COVID-19 pandemic, the CDS has emphasized the need fr the country to become self-reliant. It suggested that the armed forces minimise costly defence imports, and give more opportunity to domestic production. It has suggested that Indian armed forces need to manufacture major defence components in India and reiterated the need for forces to avoid imports of expensive parts.

In short, the idea behind having a CDS is to have more synergy in the functioning of the three services – Air Force, Navy and Army, which is vital for a country like India that has hostile neighbours such as Pakistan and China. While the chiefs of the three services will continue to head the operations for their respective forces, the CDS will have powers on their administrative issues. CDS will not exercise any military command, including over the three Service Chiefs, so that it is able to provide impartial advice to the political leadership. The significance of the post of CDS lies in its potential to reduce bureaucracy and increase transparency in national security related matters, and to ensure that the “defence budget” is spent judiciously on warfare-capabilities, which is so vital if India wants to become the military power that it aspires to be.

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