NEW DELHI, 30 Sep: Gen Anil Chauhan on Friday became India’s new chief of defence staff (CDS) with a mandate to implement the ambitious theaterisation plan that aims to ensure tri-services synergy and prepare the armed forces for future security challenges facing the nation.
Gen Chauhan, a former eastern army commander, took charge as the country’s senior-most military commander over nine months after the first CDS, Gen Bipin Rawat, died in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu.
“I am proud to be assuming the responsibility of the highest rank in the Indian armed forces. I will try to fulfil the expectations from the three services and tackle all challenges and difficulties together,” Gen Chauhan said.
Before assuming charge of the CDS, Gen Chauhan paid tributes to India’s fallen soldiers at the National War Memorial in the India Gate complex.
He was also accorded a tri-services guard of honour at the lawns of the South Block in the Raisina Hills in the presence of Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande, Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, and Navy Vice Chief, Vice Admiral SN Ghormade.
Known as an expert on China, Gen Chauhan’s appointment to the top post comes amid the lingering border row between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh.
The 61-year-old Chauhan will also function as the secretary in the military affairs department.
He had retired from service on 31 May last year when he was serving as the eastern army commander. After his retirement, he was serving as the military adviser to the National Security Council Secretariat headed by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.
As CDS, Gen Chauhan’s primary task will be to implement the theaterisation model to bring in tri-services synergy by rolling out integrated military commands.
Last year, the military affairs department, headed by Gen Rawat, had asked all three services to carry out independent studies on the theaterisation plan for its rollout.
However, the process did not move further after the death of Gen Rawat on 8 December, 2021.
As per the theaterisation plan, each of the theatre commands will have units of the army, the navy and the Air Force and all of them will work as a single entity looking after security challenges in a specified geographical territory under an operational commander.
At present, the three forces have a total of 17 commands. Initially, a plan was firmed up for the creation of an air defence command and a maritime theatre command.
The IAF has some reservations about the proposed theatre commands.
In June, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari had said that the IAF remains fully committed to the tri-services integration for enhancing the comprehensive national combat power.
Gen Chauhan is known as a fine military commander who played a key role in enhancing India’s military preparedness along the line of actual control with China in the Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim sectors during his tenure as the eastern army commander.
He was the director general of military operations of the army during the Balakot air strikes in 2019, when Indian airplanes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp deep inside Pakistan.
In becoming the CDS, Gen Chauhan assumed the rank of the four-star general as the post was created in the rank of a four-star general.
Gen Chauhan is the first retired three-star officer to return to service in four-star rank.
In a career spanning nearly 40 years, Gen Chauhan held several command, staff and instrumental appointments and had extensive experience in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu & Kashmir and Northeast India. (PTI)
