Will the Minister of DEFENCE be pleased to state:-

(a) whether Government propose to follow up on the Kargil Committee Reports and implement the suggestion for the creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) for coordination amongst various wings of our defence forces; and

(b) if so, by when a final decision in the matter is likely to be taken?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF DEFENCE
(SHRI A.K. ANTONY)

(a) & (b): The Group of Ministers (GoM) report on ‘Reforming the National Security System’ was presented to the Government in February 2001 in which amongst others, it was recommended to create the institution of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). The Government approved the recommendations contained in the GoM report except those pertaining to institution of CDS for which it was decided that Government would take a view after consulting various political parties.

The process of consultation with political parties was initiated in March 2006 when the Raksha Mantri wrote a letter to leaders of various national level political parties. Only five parties have replied. Reminders were issued to the parties that did not respond on this issue.