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New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government has begun the process of selecting a successor to India’s first Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, ThePrint has learned. Sudden death On Wednesday, a year before his retirement, left a void in the defense establishment.
Sources in the Defense and Security Establishment said a consultation process has been initiated and a file containing probable names is being prepared.
It is not immediately clear whether immediate appointment will be made or whether a serving officer will be given additional charge on the basis of seniority till the formal appointment is made.
The appointment of CDS is not an operationally urgent requirement, as at present the executive powers for the services rest with their respective chiefs and commanders, sources said.
There are no written rules for the selection of CDS, only the retirement age has been fixed at 65 years. This means that the appointment of the CDS will be a selection made by the government, and there is no precedent to follow, the sources said.
Government sources, however, remained silent on a possible successor to the late General Rawat.
Lt Gen DB Shekatkar (retired), whose report in December 2016 paved the way for the creation of the CDS post, told ThePrint that one of the three service chiefs could be appointed among the recommendations in his report.
“The recommendation was accepted and General Bipin Rawat, the senior-most of the three army chiefs, became the CDS,” Shekhtkar said, adding that there are no written rules for CDS succession.
Read also: Tourist video shows CDS Rawat’s chopper flying at low altitude, vanishes in thick fog
possible options
If seniority is taken into account, the frontrunner for the CDS post will be Army Chief General MM Naravane, who took over from General Rawat on 31 December 2019.
However, this will affect the natural succession plan, as General Naravane was due to retire only in April next year.
If a new army chief is to be appointed now, three officers on the basis of seniority will be in contention – Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen CP Mohanty, Northern Army Commander Lt Gen VK Joshi and Army Chief Lt Gen Raj Shukla Training Command. These officers would have otherwise retired before General Naravane.
Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen Manoj Pane, who will be the senior-most officer when the date of retirement of General Naravane comes in April next year, will be fourth in seniority if the latter was now named CDS.
Asked whether a serving lieutenant general can be designated the chief of defense staff, Lieutenant General Shekatkar said it is the government’s choice, but officers junior to the service chiefs would bring complications and problems.
The government is also likely to include the recently retired service chief, but it would mean that many rules would have to be changed.
Sources said that since the CDS is not just an advisory role, but also carries the post of Secretary, Department of Military Affairs, chances are in favor of a serving officer.
“It all depends on what the government wants. There is no written rule or precedence. It will be a selection by the government and one will have to wait and see,” said a source.
(Edited by Amit Upadhyay)
Read also: About Mi-17V5, the helicopter that crashed with General Bipin Rawat and 13 others
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