Disclaiming there was any political resistance to the creation of the country's first ever post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Army Chief Deepak Kapoor on Monday expressed optimism that the appointment would come through soon and the candidate could be anyone from any of the three services.
"I don't know about any political resistance,' Kapoor said when asked whether any resistance was delaying the announcement first mooted by the Arun Singh committee report and later endorsed by both the National Democratic Alliance government and the current United Progressive Alliance regime. He said the appointment could come any time in two to three years.
On whether the idea had run into opposition from the Army's sister services, the Army Chief said, "When the CDS comes about, the possibility that it could be headed by an Army, Navy
Speaking to Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN, the Army Chief said the delay could be because the government was striving to put in place the supporting structures for the system.
"It requires a certain degree of time to change the existing organisation to suit the current requirements. When that happens, we will have CDS," Kapoor said.
Asked if the present system of Chiefs of Staff of committee was not working, Army Chief said, "If it was so, no one would have thought of CDS."
