Lieutenant General Anil Chauhan (retd), the military adviser to the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) and a former Eastern Army Commander, will be India’s next Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), the government announced on Wednesday, ending the months-long suspense over who would succeed General Bipin Rawat.
The highly anticipated appointment comes more than nine months after the country’s first CDS, General Rawat, was killed in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu on December 8, 2021. Chauhan, who was commissioned in the same regiment as Rawat, will spearhead the theaterisation drive to best utilise the military’s resources for future wars and operations.
Chauhan’s appointment also comes almost four months after government amended the Army, Air Force and Navy rules in early June to broaden the pool of officers from which the CDS was to be selected — it made retired three-star officers among those eligible for the top post.
Chauhan, who retired on May 31, 2021,has been appointed the country’s most senior military commander at a time when India and China are locked in a border row in eastern Ladakh and the government has sharpened its focus on modernising the armed forces through indigenisation.
“General Chauhan shall also function as secretary, department of military affairs (DMA) with effect from the date of his assumption of charge and until further orders,” the defence ministry said.
{{/usCountry}}“General Chauhan shall also function as secretary, department of military affairs (DMA) with effect from the date of his assumption of charge and until further orders,” the defence ministry said.
{{/usCountry}}Born on May 18, 1961, Chauhan was commissioned into the 11 Gorkha Rifles (the same regiment as Rawat) in 1981. As CDS, he will also be the permanent chairman of the chiefs of staff committee (COSC) and the single-point military adviser to the defence minister.
Chauhan was the Eastern Army commander from September 2019 and held the charge till his retirement in May 2021. He has also held the key charge of director general of military operations and is known to be an authority on border-related matters. Chauhan was the DGMO when the Indian Air Force struck terror targets in Pakistan’s Balakot on February 26, 2019, in response to the Pulwama suicide attack in Kashmir in which 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed 12 days earlier.
Accelerating the theaterisation drive and enhancing synergy among the armed forces will be Chauhan’s top priority as CDS, officials said. The theaterisation drive slowed down after Rawat’s death, and the government will now expect Chauhan to provide impetus to the long-awaited military reform.
The current theaterisation model to enhance tri-service synergy seeks to set up four integrated commands -- two land-centric theatres, an air defence command, and a maritime theatre command. The armed forces currently have 17 single-service commands spread across the country. The army and air force have seven commands each, while the Indian Navy has three.
Chauhan will have to address the Indian Air Force’s (IAF) lingering concerns about the current theaterisation model, said a senior official. IAF’s concerns have raised questions about the viability of the model and indicate that inter-service differences have still not been reconciled. Lack of consensus on joint structures could delay the military reform.
In July, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari fully backed close coordination between all elements of the armed forces to counter a range of aerial threats, but said that the creation of a separate air defence command “may prove counterproductive.”
To be sure, the air force’s concerns about the theaterisation model including the air defence command are not new, and were flagged at different times by Chaudhari’s predecessors too.
“While the government took time in appointing the new CDS, it has made an excellent choice. Chauhan is a fine military leader and will be able to handle the difficult job, build consensus among the three services and take theaterisation forward, and balance the interests of the armed forces vis-a-vis the defence ministry,” said military affairs expert Lieutenant General Shokin Chauhan (retd) who is from the same unit (6/11 GR) as General Anil Chauhan and has known him for almost 45 years.
The department of military affairs has been assigned critical responsibilities that include overseeing matters related to India’s neighbouring countries including border disputes and incidents, development of infrastructure in forward areas, and deployment of forces. Monitoring developments in the Indian Ocean region, Afghanistan, West Asia and South East Asia, and supply of arms and ammunition to friendly countries also come under the purview of DMA.
Some other responsibilities include restructuring of the army, operational matters of the Indian Air Force, overseas deployment of warships, and coastal security.
Chauhan was seen as a top contender for the post after the government amended rules on June 6, 2021, making retired three-star officers below the age of 62 eligible for the post. When the government amended the rules, it was apparent that it had a panel of suitable candidates in mind for the post of CDS.
The government expected Rawat, who took charge as India’s first CDS on January 1, 2020, to bring about jointness among the three services in a three-year time frame (by January 2023). These timelines will, however, have to be revised.
Talking about the theaterisation drive in May, army chief General Manoj Pande said that while there were areas of “convergence and common understanding,” some issues “still need to be addressed,” and these will have to be taken up for resolution at the appropriate level.