- Government on September 28, 2022, appointed Lt Gen Anil Chauhan (retd) as India’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), nearly 10 months after the country’s first CDS, Gen Bipin Rawat, was killed in a helicopter crash.
- Lt Gen Chauhan, 61, took over as the military adviser in the National Security Council Secretariat from Lt Gen VG Khandare (retd) post his retirement from the Army as the Eastern Army Commander.
- In a career spanning over nearly 40 years, Lt Gen Anil Chauhan had held several command, staff and instrumental appointments and had extensive experience in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu & Kashmir and northeast.
- The CDS serves as the permanent chairman of the ‘Chief of Staff Committee’ in which the heads of the three services will also be members. Its main task is to promote greater operational synergy among the tri-services of the Indian Army and to keep the inter-service conflict to a minimum.
- He is also the head of the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) in the Ministry of Defense. He will act as the principal military adviser to the Defense Minister on the matters of the three armies, but at the same time the chiefs of the three services will continue to advise the Defense Minister in relation to their armies.
- The rank of CDS is the first among the counterparts, he has the rank of secretary within the DoD (Department of Defense) and his powers will be limited to the revenue budget only.
Lt Gen Anil Chauhan (Retd) appointed as new Chief of Defence Staff
