Fear of coup prevented CDS appointment earlier: Ex-Army chief

Terming appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) as a welcome move, former Army chief General (retd) Shankar Roy Chowdhury on Wednesday said it h t been done earlier owing to n political bosses' fear of a coup.

He said appointment of a CDS was due for a long time and services wanted it to be re in country so that Army, Navy and Air Force come under one umbrella, "but problem was political."

" fear of a coup was ingrained among earlier political bosses if all three forces - Army, Navy and Air Force - were brought under one umbrella and that was only reason that a post of CDS was t created," Roy Chowdhury told newspersons here.

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General Bipin Rawat, who retired as Army chief on December 31, has taken charge as India's first Chief of Defence Staff next day with a mandate to bring in convergence in functioning of Army, Navy and Indian Air Force and bolster country's military prowess. Gen (retd) Roy Chowdhury said military is always subordinate to civil authorities in country, but an "unsubstantiated" fear of a coup if forces were brought under one he h prevented n political establishment from taking a decision on it.

"This is single reason why country did t have a CDS so far," former Army chief said. He said post of CDS is important for coordination of three forces. former Army officer said CDS will always have to work under internal pressure to meet with demands from Army, Navy and Air Force with each trying to get more of defence budget pie in order to meet ir requirements.

" CDS will have to make his judgement on requirements of three forces and judiciously recommend distribution of funds to each," Roy Chowdhury said. former Army chief said all three services are under-funded and demand for at least two per cent of country's GDP to be spent on Defence budget has never been met. " CDS has to ensure that resources are allocated equitably or priority wise within services, in his recommendations to government," he said.

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