CDS, at last!
| Date :18-Aug-2019 |
FINALLY, the Government has agreed to create the much-awaited position of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), the announcement for which was made by Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi from the ramparts of Red Fort on Independence Day. This much-awaited reform was in the pipeline for almost fifty years, though the actual announcement came only now.
Once this idea is brought into effect, it will certainly add a greater strength to administration and implementation of strategic thinking in the country. Even as the Government started making active arrangement to expand the Armed Forces, particularly following the 1971 Bangladesh War, the need for a combined command for all the services was felt. However, it was Air Chief Marshal P. C. Lal who opposed the idea, fearing that such a post would become all too powerful. Air Chief Marshal Lal even threatened to quit if the post of CDS were to be created at all. No matter that, the idea did not die, and in 1982, the then Chief of Army Staff General V. K. Krishna Rao (who later became Governor of Jammu and Kashmir) proposed creation of the post. After a touch-and-go discussion at the highest level, the idea did not go much further.
But the real impetus came post-Kargil War in 1999 when the Government gave a serious thought to it. The time-consuming process of consultation with involved parties started in 2006. Then came the Naresh Chandra Committee that recommended its own version of the CDS in 2012. Four years later, a committee headed by Lt. General D. B. Shekatkar pushed the idea further by recommending its own version of the coveted position. But most decisive action came in 2017 when the Cabinet Committee on Security started the process of making the final decision. As a precursor to CDS, the post of Chairman of the Chief of Staff Committee was formed. It was Mr. Narendra Modi who actually pushed the idea to a sensible conclusion because he was acutely aware of the need for a combined command of a rapidly expanding and diverse Defence Force the country had been working on.
Expansion of defence budget, expansion of the concept of national security, expansion of the idea of geopolitical dominance, expansion of the strategic and tactical application of the what many described as ‘military diplomacy’ led to further pursuit of the idea of creating the post of the Chief of Defence Staff. With the Prime Minister’s announcement on Independence Day, the idea will get implemented soon.
And that would mean a critical symbolism of how the country wished to run and manage its vast Defence Force. When the world has begun looking at India as a regional superpower and an emerging global military power, it is only logical that it has a combined command that would act as a strategic pivot. With Mr. Modi’s announcement, thus, a long-awaited reform would come into effect. In the new arrangement, Secretary Defence would be the main advisor to the Prime Minister on issues of national security and defence, and the CDS would chip in as a chief advisor on military matters. This will help in maintaining a reasonable balance between the civilian and military components. The nation, thus, has taken a definitive step towards better national security.