The defence ministry has sent the names of three two-star ranked officers from the Army, Air Force and Navy to the government for appointment as joint secretaries in the new department of military affairs headed by Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, two officials said on Wednesday asking not to be named.
The government’s approval to post a Major General, an Air Vice Marshal and a Rear Admiral to the department of military affairs is expected soon, said one of the officials cited above.
The appointments committee of the Union Cabinet had last month cleared the appointment of two joint secretaries in the new department – Rajeev Singh Thakur, a 1995-batch IAS officer from Rajasthan cadre and Shantanu, a 1997-batch officer from Tripura cadre. At the time of its creation, the government had announced that the department of military affairs would be staffed by a mix of civilian and military officers.
The department of military affairs is an addition to the four existing verticals in the defence ministry – the departments of defence, defence production, defence research and development and ex-service welfare.
As CDS, General Rawat not only heads the department of military affairs but is also the principal military adviser to the defence minister on all matters related to the tri-services. He took over as the country’s first CDS on December 31.
General Rawat’s mandate includes facilitating the restructuring of military commands for optimal utilisation of resources by bringing about jointness in operations, including through establishment of theatre commands.
The department of military affairs oversees key matters relating to India’s neighbouring countries including border disputes and incidents, development of infrastructure in forward areas and deployment of forces. These countries include China, Pakistan and Bhutan.
Supply of arms and ammunition to friendly neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka, Nepal and the Maldives also comes under the purview of this department. Monitoring developments in the Indian Ocean region, Afghanistan, West Asia and South East Asia is also one of the responsibilities of the department of military affairs. However, all matters that have an import on the country’s defence policy will be dealt by the Department of Defence, headed by the defence secretary.
Issues related to counter-insurgency operations and Siachen glacier also come under the department of military affairs.
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