Capital abuzz over next Army Chief, first CDS

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 8

With three weeks to go for the Army Chief General Bipin Rawat to retire, the power corridors in the national capital are abuzz with various possibilities on who will be the new chief for the 1.3-million strong Indian Army and also the first-ever Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the creation of CDS in his speech on the Independence Day this year.

Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat will retire on December 31. Three officers are being considered for the next chief. They are Vice-Chief Lt Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane, Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh and Southern Army Commander Lt Gen Satinder Kumar Saini. Their names are on the panel sent to the PM-headed Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

It has now emerged that the CDS could be a four-star General enjoying the rights of ‘first among equals’ and senior to the three chiefs of the services.

It was expected that the CDS could be a General who has completed his tenure as a Chief. But if the Narendra Modi-headed government chooses to appoint one of the senior Lt Gen-rank officers as the CDS, it could set a new trend. If that is the case, it would mean superseding the present IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria and Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh, as the CDS would be the ‘first among equals’. The CDS is expected to serve as a single-point adviser to the government on several issues of jointness of the three services.