India’s Army chief Naravane to head chiefs of staff panel till new CDS picked

INTERNATIONAL DESK: In the absence of a chief of defence staff (CDS) after General Bipin Rawat‘s tragic demise on December 8, India’s Army chief General M M Naravane is now acting as the chairman of the chiefs of staff committee (CoSC).

“It is a procedural step, a stopgap arrangement till the new CDS is appointed. As per the earlier system, the senior-most among the Army, Navy and IAF chiefs would be the COSC chairman,” a senior official said on Thursday.

When Gen Rawat was appointed the CDS on December 31, 2019, he also became the permanent chairman of the CoSC for his three-year term as well as the secretary of the new department of military affairs in the defence ministry. In the earlier system, the CoSC chairmanship, which had no real powers, rotated among the three Service chiefs depending on their seniority.

Gen Naravane, who took over as the Army chief from Gen Rawat on December 31, 2019, and is slated to retire in April next year, is considered to be the frontrunner for the post of CDS, as was earlier reported by TOI. While Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari took over as the IAF chief on September 30 this year, Admiral Radhakrishnan Hari Kumar assumed charge of the Navy on November 30. (The Times of India)