The conjecture among the Services officers is that the delay in appointing the new Chief of Defence Staff is linked to the Army chief of choice

It is eminently clear why the Government has shown no sense of urgency in appointing a permanent Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) to replace late Gen Bipin Rawat, who was killed in an accident on December 9, instead of merely nominating an officiating one — Army chief, Gen MM Naravane, who has been given additional charge of CDS. Senior serving officers from the Integrated Defence Staff and Service Headquarters have been whispering that the Government has had its eyes fixed on Vice Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Manoj Pande, previously Eastern Army Commander, an engineer who belongs to the cosmopolitan city of Nagpur, otherwise famous for the headquarters of the Rashtra Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). His father is a reputed academic from Nagpur University. Gen Pande was relocated as VCOAS on February 1 after two senior Lt Gens had retired.

The IDS officers point to the fact that the Government, which claimed resolve and boldness in appointing the CDS, the first in 70 years, went limp after Gen Rawat’s death and let strategic issues in CDS ambit freeze and drift. While admitting that the controversial CDS paper on Integrated Commands was circulated to stakeholders and comments sought in six months, there were other key projects on the anvil which had the Rawat imprimatur and have since gone cold. They said one reason the Government was constrained in announcing the appointment of new Army chief was the restrictions imposed by the Election Commission and that the appointment would be made after March 10, when election results would be announced. But nothing like that happened because a Lt Gen senior to Gen Pande was still in service till March 31. Their most telling observation was that the CDS void had given an opportunity for Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar, whose portfolio became extremely restricted on the formation of Department of Military Affairs, to resuscitate his remit and enlarge strategic space which he has ably done.

One can recall that when DMA was established, former Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra said the Government can do without a Defence Secretary and that the military should have a role in formulation of defence policy. Currently, Kumar is the principal coordinating secretary of four other Secretaries in the MoD, which includes the multi-tasked CDS who is also Secretary DMA and is several notches above Defence Secretary in the Warrant of Precedence. Besides articulating defence policy, the Defence Secretary is responsible for capital acquisition, international defence cooperation and minor routine issues. Kumar recently acquired a defence advisor, Lt Gen (Retd) Vinod Khandare, who was previously military advisor to National Security Council Secretariat in the PMO and DG Defence Intelligence Agency. Kumar already has a tri-service team of advisors on international defence cooperation led by an IFS officer who is assisted by an Administrative Service officer. Confidential Reports of service officers are written by them and the Vice Chief of their service, representing synergy of high order. Senior officers fear that the longer the Government takes in appointing CDS, Kumar will make hay. In any case, Gen Naravane, who is popularly tipped to become the CDS, will not have the charisma, heft and experience of Rawat to preserve and promote military turf. The DMA threatens the traditional bureaucratic supremacy over the armed services.

On March 31, the last of the Lt Gens senior to Gen Pande retired, clearing the way for him to be appointed the COAS. By current reckoning, the Government will announce his promotion anytime after March 31 as the Army chief to take over from May 1, when Gen Naravane superannuates. The office of CDS will have been lying vacant for more than four months when a CDS could have been appointed in a few weeks, had the Government shown the same alacrity it had while appointing one. It let two Lt Gens go and waited for another Lt Gen, all senior to Gen Pande, to retire paving the path for his elevation. The Government has apparently taken a laidback approach in appointing a CDS showing unusual sensitivity in not dislocating the line of succession in the Army — a concern it ignored while appointing Gen Rawat as the Army chief when he superseded two senior Generals.

The real story, as officers explained, is the Government’s fixation in making Gen Pande the COAS. He is capable, technically suave and the first Engineer officer ever to rise to assume the ultimate command. While Infantry, Armoured Corps and Mechanised Infantry are the three combat arms, Artillery and Engineers are combat support arms and their officers also make it to General cadre and Army chiefs. It is the Government’s prerogative to select and appoint a service chief, especially the COAS. It is said that Gen Pande, owing to his background, was politically most acceptable and hence the nearly five-month delay. There is no consistency in Government’s appointments policy. It follows what is appealing and best suited in the ruling party’s interest. When Gen Rawat was appointed the Army chief over two other Generals, Government cited his exceptional operational experience in counter-insurgency, different operational theatres like J&K and North East and UN peacekeeping. Gen Pande may not be comparably gifted but managed seniority and in a way deep selection has triumphed.

(The writer, a retired Lt Gen, was Commander, IPKF South, Sri Lanka, and founder member of the Defence Planning Staff, currently the Integrated Defence Staff. The views expressed are personal.)