It’s been almost three weeks after the creation of the much-awaited post of Chief of Defence Staff under the Department of Military Affairs (DMA). After Bipin Rawat’s successful appointment as the CDS, the Modi government now has decided to redistribute the work between the various departments of the ministry.
The administrative and recurring procurement matters of all armed forces services have been shifted to the Department of Military affairs under the CDS while the matters related to defence policy and capital procurement will be dealt by Department of defence, headed by the defence secretary. Earlier the capital procurement was under joint secretaries of Army, Navy and Air force.
The DMA will have 2 joint secretary-level officers, 13 directors, and 25 undersecretaries, all of whom were earlier with the Department of Defence. The division of work has been left as an ambivalent area, probably intentionally; as the government wants the offices to evolve over time and compete to perform better.
DMA is the fifth department under the Ministry of Defence, after the Department of Defence, Department of Defence Production, DRDO and Department of Ex-servicemen.
The next few months will be crucial for both the offices, as both of them will eventually adjust to the new realities and power structure and will gradually evolve along with the adjustment process. The government will keep a vigilant eye and allow the offices to evolve and adjust over time.
PM Modi in his speech from the Red Fort- on the occasion of 73rd Independence Day has made the much critical and awaited announcement of setting up the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)- CDS is a ‘first among equals’, a fourth four-star officer who will be senior to the three other service chiefs; mentioning alongside the focus on water conservation, call against single-use plastics, population explosion in his speech.
As India explores the new paradigm after major political and strategic developments in the two newly created union territories, PM Modi by this announcement has again reiterated the government’s firm stand regarding national security.
This move is also in line with the recent developments in warfare over the past few years; essentially the conventional forces on land, air and sea have transformed to take the form of a composite which consists of all conventional three added with cyber, economic and psychological warfare. It is widely accepted that future engagements of such nature will be hybrid in nature.
CDS is poised to give a huge boost to India’s efforts towards integrating several domains in India’s security profile into a more synergistic system, however it is to note that efforts in this regard are already underway and appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) will only streamline and accelerate these processes.
The appointment of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) will also create a new junction of communication and coordination between the PM led executive and the military, which essentially translates to having direct and enhanced attention of the Prime Minister, Defence Minister and the National Security Advisor (NSA).
