The CDS will have a significant role in higher defence planning and operational aspects of India's nuclear arsenal.
'Is the appointment of a CDS likely to achieve the creation of battle-ready, tri-service military commands, from the current 17 single-service commands?', asks Ajai Shukla.
'Chinese soldiers don't have much experience of fighting in these kinds of areas and operating in this kind of terrain'
Wing Commander Prithvi Singh Chauhan was the pilot of the crashed Indian Air Force (IAF) Mi-17V5 helicopter, carrying Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat and 13 others, informed sources.
The government has extended the tenure of Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan up to May next year.
The talks between the two sides have been going on for the last three months including five Lieutenant General-level talks but have failed to yield any results, so far.
All the mangled remains of the helicopter, which crashed at Nanjapachatram near Coonoor in the Nilgiris district killing 14 including the country's first chief of defence staff Bipin Rawat have been collected from the site.
As India's international role expands, so must our capabilities, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
The former Chief of Army Staff said India faces the most complex threats and challenges spanning a full spectrum of possible conflict -- from nuclear to sub-conventional -- but asserted that the armed forces are ready to deal with them.
The defence ministry in an official statement has informed that the minister will give a statement in Rajya Sabha at 11.30 am and in Lok Sabha at 12.15 pm.
Confident that Indian Armed Forces will leave no stone unturned to safeguard our frontiers be it at land, air or ocean," Rawat said.
'With deep regret, it has now been ascertained that Gen Bipin Rawat, Mrs Madhulika Rawat and 11 other persons on board have died in the unfortunate accident,' the IAF tweeted.
Several politicians, including senior ministers, wished for the well-being and safety of Rawat and others on board.
On his first day as CDS, General Rawat paid tribute at the National War Memorial in the heart of New Delhi near India Gate. He wore the uniform representing his parent service.
He also set out priorities for execution of various initiatives by December 31 to achieve synergy among the three forces.
On his last day in office as the Chief of Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat on Tuesday paid tribute to martyrs at the National War Memorial in New Delhi on Tuesday. General Rawat remembered the brave personnel who had sacrificed their lives in the service of the nation. He also received his farewell Guard of Honour as the Army Chief at the South Block.
Condolences over the demise of chief of defence staff Gen Bipin Rawat poured in on Wednesday from various countries, including the US, Russia and Pakistan.
Former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, who died in a tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad on Thursday, joined the list of several top Indian politicians and prominent personalities who lost their lives in aviation accidents.
The plaintive strains of bugles sounding the last post broke through the hush, men in uniform clicked their heels and a 17-gun salute rang out as Gen Bipin Rawat and his wife were cremated on Friday evening -- the sun setting on a day written into India's military history and on the life of its most senior military officer.
Gen Bipin Rawat's appointment, first as army chief superseding two other army commanders, and then as CDS, was the consequence of his close personal rapport with National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. Now, with General Rawat gone and nobody named to replace him as CDS, it is evident that no other top military officer enjoys that relationship with Doval, observes Ajai Shukla.
In his first media interaction after assuming the position of the CDS, Rawat also said that his focus as the CDS will be to integrate the efforts of the three services and to work as a team.
According to the new rules, any serving or retired lieutenant general, air marshal and vice-admiral under the age of 62 years will be eligible for appointment to the post of CDS.
This is the first time that a retired officer has been appointed at this position for which a gazette notification was issued to announce the change in rules for the appointment.
Any serving or retired lieutenant general, air marshal and vice admiral under the age of 62 years will be eligible for the post of Chief of Defence Staff, according to notifications issued by the government.
In an army that favours officers who have spent the bulk of their service years doing counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir, General Anil Chauhan is that rarity: A China specialist who has logged plenty of service years along the Line of Actual Control and the McMahon Line with China.
As CDS, General Chauhan's primary task will be to implement the theaterisation model to bring in tri-services synergy by rolling out integrated military commands.
Kritika and Tarini -- the late Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat's daughters -- on Friday paid floral tributes to their parents at the general's official residence in New Delhi.
Huge crowds of mourners gathered outside as armed forces personnel took the mortal remains of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat inside the Brar Square crematorium in the Delhi Cantonment on Friday.
The chopper took off at 11.48 am from the Sulur Air Base and was reported to be missing at around 12.22 pm, sources informed.
The government has started the process to appoint the next Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and a list of names based on recommendations from the three services will soon be submitted to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for approval, officials said on Friday.
The government is set to begin the process soon to appoint the next Chief of Defence Staff with Army Chief Gen MM Naravane emerging as the front-runner for the top post that fell vacant following the demise of Gen Bipin Rawat in a helicopter crash.
Lt Gen Anil Chauhan (retired) will assume charge as India's new Chief of Defence Staff on Friday, an appointment that is expected to bring the focus back on the implementation of the ambitious theaterisation drive to bring synergy among the three services.
The 'institution' of CDS carries tremendous responsibility of modernising the country's military forces, and reflecting the 'hopes and aspirations' of 1.3 billion Indians, Modi said.
Home Minister Amit Anilchandra Shah, National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Friday laid wreaths on the mortal remains of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat.
The CDS will have his office in South Block in New Delhi and shall have the parent service uniform, officials said on Tuesday.
Pakistan Army's spokesman in a short statement posted on Twitter said that Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Nadeem Raza and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa expressed condolences.
Members of the Karnataka legislative assembly on Monday demanded a thorough probe into the death of chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat along with his wife Madhulika Rawat and 11 others in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu's Coonoor on December 8.
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.
Their mortal remains are expected to arrive in the national capital in a military plane by Thursday evening, the sources said.
On Saturday morning, the daughters of CDS General Rawat, Kritika and Tarini, collected the ashes of their parents from Brar Square crematorium in Delhi Cantonment and reached Haridwar to immerse them in the Ganges.
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