CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF
- November 7, 2020
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Subject : Defence
Context : India will not accept any shifting of LAC, says CDS General Rawat.
Concept :
- CDS acts as the permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee which will also have three service chiefs as members.
- His core function will be to foster greater operational synergy between the three service branches of the Indian military and keep inter-service frictions to a minimum.
- He will also head the newly created Department of Military Affairs (DoMA) in the Ministry of Defence.
- The CDS will be the single-point military adviser to the Defence Minister on matters involving all three services and the service chiefs will be obliged to confine their counsel to issues pertaining to their respective services.
- As the head of DoMA, CDS is vested with the authority in prioritising inter-service procurement decisions as Permanent Chairman-Chiefs of Staff Committee.
- The CDS is also vested with the authority to provide directives to the three chiefs.
- However, he does not enjoy any command authority over any of the forces.
- CDS is first among equals, he enjoys the rank of Secretary within the DoD and his powers will be confined to only the revenue budget.
- He will also perform an advisory role in the Nuclear Command Authority (NCA).
Nuclear Command Authority
- The Nuclear Command Authority (NCA) of India is the authority responsible for command, control and operational decisions regarding India’s nuclear weapons programme.
- The NCA comprised a Political Council and an Executive Council.
- The Political Council was chaired by the Prime Minister and is the sole body which can authorise the use of nuclear weapons.
- The Executive Council, chaired by the National Security Adviser to the Prime Minister, provides inputs for decision making by the NCA and executes the directives given to it by the Political Council.