New Delhi: The new Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Bipin Rawat, on Wednesday said the country’s Armed Forces stayed away from politics and worked as per the directives of the government. His statement comes amid allegations by the Opposition parties that the Armed Forces were being politicised.
“We stay away, we stay far away from politics. We work on the directives of the government in power,” said Gen. Rawat. He assumed charge as the nation’s first Chief of Defence Staff on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the creation of the department of military affairs and institutionalisation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff are momentous reforms that will help the country face the ever-changing challenges of modern warfare.
“I am delighted that as we begin the new year and new decade, India gets its first Chief of Defence Staff in Gen. Bipin Rawat. I congratulate him and wish him the very best for this responsibility. He is an outstanding officer who has served India with great zeal,” the Prime Minister tweeted.
Gen. Rawat said the CDS’ mandate was to integrate the efforts of the three services and to work as a team. “I want to assure you the Army, Navy and Air Force will work as a team. The CDS will keep control over them, but action will be taken through teamwork,” he said. He said the CDS will not try to run a force by his directions, and will remain neutral towards all the three services.
Gen. Rawat said that India does not need to follow the Western model on joint theatre commands and can have its own mechanism for a tri-service command system.
“There are methods of doing theaterisation. I think we all are copying Western methods and what others have done. We can have our own systems. We will work it out through understanding each other” he said. He added “We will work with all three services and come out with mechanism suiting Indian system.”
