Table of Contents
CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF
- Currently, major countries like the US, France, the UK and China all have a Chief of Defence Staff.
- In US they have Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff the highest-ranking and senior-most military officer in the United States Armed Forces and is the principal military advisor to the President
CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF (INDIA)
- Chief of the Defence Staff (India) is a proposed position for the combined head of the Indian Army, Air Force and Indian Navy. The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) is also to act as a single-point military adviser to the Defence Minister.
HISTORY
- The Group of Minister’s (GoM) which was formed following the Kargil Review Committee’s recommendation, proposed the creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff. Following committees, the Naresh Chandra task force in 2012 and the Lt Gen D B Shekatkar Committee in 2016 also proposed their own versions of a CDS.
KARGIL WAR CASUALITIES
WHAT IS CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF
- To put it in simple terms, the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) is a post that will act as the single-point advisor to the Government of India. The officer concerned will be in a position to advise on matters related to all the three services — Army, Navy and Air Force — thus making India’s armed forces integrated.
- The Chief of Defence Forces will also be the head of the three services and will be a five-star military officer.
GEN (RETD) VP MALIK, WHO WAS THE ARMY CHIEF DURING KARGIL WAR
WHY SO LATE?
- One of the reasons why a decision on creating the post of Chief of Defence Staff could not be taken in the past 20 years was that a political consensus could not be created on it.
- The Group of Ministers which had favoured CDS in 2001 had said it should be done with political consensus. In 2016, the government informed Parliament that this consultation process could not be completed because all political parties have not responded.
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