In the wake of recent comments by the Chief of the Air Staff N.A.K. Browne at the Unified Commander’s Conference and then by Chief of Naval Staff D.K. Joshi at the Navy’s annual press conference about the three Service chiefs having agreed to having a Permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (CoSC), sources in the Defence Ministry on Friday said a decision will not be taken in haste in the matter.
Since a semblance was given by the statements of the two Service chiefs that the new structure could be in place as soon as January 2014, rumblings had started within the forces, in particular the Army, as it was felt that it would disturb the existing hierarchy.
To dispel any fears, the Defence Ministry sources said “a serious discussion is required among the various stakeholders and the idea is that the Government will not take any hasty decision in the matter.”
On why a note has again been sent to the various political parties recently to obtain their comments on the issue of having a Chief of Defence Staff as had been envisaged in 2001 and recommended by the Arun Singh Committee following the Kargil war, the Defence Ministry source said the recent letter was in continuation of the ongoing process.
“The mood of the political parties would be factored in while effecting any changes in the top echelons of the security structure and a final decision will only be taken after careful consideration of all these matters,” the official pointed out.
The source said the issues of CDS and the Permanent Chairman of CoSC, which the Navy chief had described as a “stop-gap arrangement”, were closely interrelated and interconnected in a big way as the role of responsibilities, hierarchy and job description of these posts was interlinked.
