Day Before His Retirement, General Bipin Rawat Appointed As India's First Chief of Defence Staff

General Rawat will take over the Chief of Defence Staff today, the same day he retires as the Army Chief. CDS is the principal military adviser to the Defence Minister and head of the new Department of Military Affairs.

President Ram Nath Kovind shakes hands with Army Chief Bipin Rawat during a meeting in New Delhi, Monday, Dec. 30. (Image: PTI)

New Delhi: A day ahead of his retirement, Indian Army chief General Bipin Rawat was appointed as country's first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) on Monday night by the government of India. The appointed of India's first CDS was made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day speech, earlier this year. General Rawat will take over the Chief of Defence Staff today, the same day he retires as the Army Chief. CDS is the principal military adviser to the Defence Minister and head of the new Department of Military Affairs. "File for the appointment of India's first CDS was cleared by Appointment Committee of Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday morning," said a senior government officer, privy to the decision making process. According to government report, Rawat has been appointed as CDS with effect from Tuesday itself and will be holding the post till 65 years of age, which for him is March 31, 2023. General Rawat had served a rare full three year term as the Indian Army Chief after he superseded two officers in 2016.

Government has decided to appoint Chief of the Army Staff General Bipin Rawat as the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) with effect from December 31, 2019. @DefenceMinIndia @RajnathSingh_in @rajnathsingh @IAF_MCC @indiannavy @adgpi @PIB_India @PIBHindi @IndiaCoastGuard @HQ_DG_NCC pic.twitter.com/LdSyB6ItqP

— ADG (M&C) DPR (@SpokespersonMoD) December 30, 2019

He was commissioned into the 11 Gorkha Rifles on December 16, 1978. As CDS, General Rawat will be the highest defence officer of the country and will be a single point of contact between the Army and government. He would be in direct contact with the Prime Minister on security issues and the chiefs of the Army, Navy and the Air Force would report to him. The CDS will have all the powers like other secretaries, including financial. Rawat is already working as the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee. In his new role, Rawat would work towards integrating the operations of the armed forces and trim the weapons procurement procedures. In his Independence Day speech this year, PM Modi had announced that India will have the CDS. The Union Cabinet had, on December 24, approved the post of the CDS and its charter and duties. The CDS will be a 4-star general rank officer. "He will be drawing a salary equivalent to service chiefs, and will head the Department of Military Affairs to be created under the Ministry of Defence. He will function as its Secretary," Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said during the Cabinet briefing. Even Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had hailed the Union Cabinet's approval for the CDS and its charter and duties, calling it an "historic and major" decision towards bringing about jointmanship between the armed forces. The idea of creating the CDS' post is that India should not have a fragmented approach. "Our entire military power will have to work in unison. All the three (services) should move simultaneously at the same pace," news agency IANS quoted a senior government official as saying.

General Bipin Rawat, Chief of the Army Staff, called on President Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan pic.twitter.com/WFIFHK8YAZ

— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) December 30, 2019

The CDS was planned after looking into the changing nature of warfare, security environment and national security challenges. The biggest challenge before CDS will be to ensure jointmanship among the three services which will include powers to work on setting up of few theatre commands as well as to allocate military assets among the services to synergise their operations. Experts in the government pointed out the need for the post of a CDS to oversee the military that was identified after the Kargil war in 1999. The recommendation was made by a committee set up to figure out the security lapses after the war.