IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal P.V. Naik feels there is no “urgency” for the country to have a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) as there has been an “excellent synergy” between various wings of the armed forces.
Amid a debate whether a new post of CDS should be created in a bid to create more integration in the armed forces, Mr Naik on Tuesday said it is not going to be “indispensable” for the country and that there is no necessity for this at least for the next five to 10 years.
“Though I am not opposed to the institution of a Chief of Defence Staff, I have doubts about the urgency for having such an institution in India. We need not emulate other countries as our requirements are different”, Mr Naik told reporters.
He was asked to comment on his recent remarks that there would be no need for a Chief of Defence Staff in the near future.
“We have fought several battles in the last five decades and there has been excellent synergy between the various wings of the armed forces. We are also not involved in military expeditions in other countries like the US is in Afghanistan. I don’t think a CDS is going to become indispensable for India, at least not in the next 5-10 years,” he said. —PTI