CDS is the need of the day: Lt Gen Naravane
Kolkata: Army Vice Chief designate Lt Gen M M Naravane said on Tuesday that Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) is the need of the day and will be a game changer for the Armed Forces of the country.
At present there is the chairman of Chiefs of Staff committee of the three wings - Army, Navy and Air Force with the appointment being rotational among them.
"You can't be playing musical chairs for such an important post and that is why issue of appointment of Chief of Defence Staff has been raised," Lt Gen Naravane said at a function here.
He said that appointment of a CDS is definitely the need of the day and will be a game changer for the Armed Forces of the country.
Lt Gen Naravane, who is at present the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Eastern Command, said that appointment of a CDS was very much needed, which was stalled for various reasons.
"The CDS will not only coordinate matters between the three services, but will act as an interface between the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence," he said.
He said that a committee has been formed under the NSA with representatives from various ministries and the Armed forces to work out the modalities on who should be the CDS and will also work out the rules of business.
In a landmark military reform, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that the country will now have a Chief of Defence Staff as head of the tri-services, a proposal pending since the Kargil conflict in 1999.
In his Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort, the prime minister asserted that time has come to enhance synergy among the Army, Navy and the Indian Air Force to deal with security challenges facing India.
