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The Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Tuesday, 7 June, issued updated guidelines that aim to expand the scope of the officers eligible for the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of India's Armed Services.
In a notification, the ministry said, "The Central Government may, if considered necessary, in public interest, so to do, appoint as Chief of Defence Staff, an officer who is serving as Air Marshal or Air Chief Marshal or an officer who has retired in the rank of Air Marshal or Air Chief Marshal but has not attained the age of sixty-two years on the date of his appointment."
In simpler words, the MoD has broadened the scope of eligibility for the post of CDS that fell vacant after the sudden demise of India's first CDS General Bipin Rawat. The Quint spoke to military veterans about the new criteria for the selection of the CDS.
"The decision by the government to expand the pool of eligible officers for the post of CDS is great from the government's point of view, because it enlarges the decision makers' choice in making this very critical appointment. But I think, from a purely practical and institutional point of view, this is deemed a bit problematic."Commander (Retd) Abhijit Singh
The Question of Seniority
"As per the guidelines that were formulated when the first CDS was appointed, this office was to be tenanted by a four-star officer, either serving or recently retired as a chief. And this was the case when the late General Bipin Rawat was appointed. At the time, the transition was relatively smooth, and the CDS being the first among equals, among the other three four-star chiefs, seemed to be a satisfactory arrangement," said Commodore (Retd) Uday Bhaskar.
"The new criteria leave the door open for an officer who is junior to the service chief to supersede him and become the CDS. And that, for the hierarchy-conscious, is a bit disappointing," said Commander (Retd) Abhijit Singh.
"Whoever is selected at three-star would at best have been the equivalent of an army commander or equivalent in the navy and the air force as the commander-in-chief but they would not have had the experience of being the chief of a service, which is a completely different kind of responsibility," added Bhaskar.
Impact on Decision Making
"From the perspective of operational integration, this does raise some questions because the CDS must be able to command the heft and have the authority to get the backing of service chiefs in making some very crucial decisions when it comes to creating that integration of the services. And we do know that the services have had some differences over this very important question of how we should all come together and fight in a seamless, integrated way," said Commander (Retd) Abhijit Singh.
"While the need to review and rewire India's higher defence management is imperative, there may be a case to make the haste slowly. More so when the challenges to India's national security are currently both dynamic and complex."Commodore (Retd) Uday Bhaskar
'New CDS Must Be Appointed Soon'
"In today's era, war-fighting has become very complex. There are so many shooters, censors, and integration of all this is required in real quick time; there is not enough time to go back in a hierarchical manner for orders, instructions, and directions. Let's hope the government appoints a CDS very soon, which is the prime need of the hour," said Lt Gen (Retd) Satish Dua.
Commander (Retd) Abhijit Singh added, "I think this is a good decision from the government's point of view because it seems that they may have somebody in mind whom they think would be an ideal choice for the CDS. But purely from the point of view of services and from an operational point of view, this does seem to be a bit problematic as it will be very hard to implement at the ground level."
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