NEW DELHI : Army Chief General Bipin Rawat becomes the country’s first Chief of Defence Staff(CDS) - a post created to integrate services of all branches of the armed forces. General Rawat who retires as Army Chief today, will move on to assume charge as the new CDS .
In his new position, Rawat would be in direct contact with the Prime Minister on security issues. Also, the chiefs of Army, Navy and the Air Force will report to him. He will head the Department of Military Affairs and is expected to integrate the operations of armed forces and trim the weapons procurement procedures.
The new post came into being, on recommendation of a committee setup after Kargil war in 1999, to identify lapses in security and operations All P-5(nuclear powers) have an equivalent post.
