| Chief of Defence Staff | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:Flag_of_Chief_of_Defence_Staff_(India).svg) | |
 Indian Armed Forces | |
| Type | Chief of defence |
| Status | Overall professional head of the Indian Armed Forces. |
| Abbreviation | CDS |
| Member of | |
| Reports to | &sq=&lang=&file=File:Flag_of_India.svg){kind=small} President of India Prime Minister of India Minister of Defence |
| Seat | South Block, Secretariat Building, New Delhi |
| Appointer | Appointments Committee of the Cabinet President of India |
| Term length | No fixed duration, only from appointment till the age of 65.[1] |
| Formation | 1 January 2020 |
| First holder | General Bipin Rawat PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, YSM, SM, VSM, ADC |
| Deputy |  Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (CISC) |
| Salary | ₹250,000 (US$3,000) monthly[2][3] |
| Website | Official website |
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The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) is the principal military authority and senior-most appointment of the Indian Armed Forces.[4] Deemed the overall professional head of India’s three armed services, namely, the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force, the CDS is the highest-ranking military officer in service, responsible for overseeing inter-service jointness across all disciplines related to military functioning.[5] Primarily, the office operates on a status of primus inter pares i.e., first among equals with the chiefs of the three services, and functions as the Permanent-Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) – the inter-service syndicate responsible for ensuring the establishment and preservation of military integration.[6]
Statutorily, the CDS is the presiding secretary of the Department of Military Affairs, the civil-cum-military entity responsible for fostering professional coordination between the services, and by extension, is also the principal military advisor to the nation’s civilian leadership i.e., the Ministry of Defence on affairs privy to inter-service integration; as such, the office exists primarily as an advisor and adjudicator position, endowed with no operational command control.[7]
Since its formal creation in 2020, the CDS is officiated on a rotational basis by four-star officers nominated from either of the three services.[6] Domestically, the office ranks 12th-overall in the Indian order of precedence, and is the status-equivalent of the Chief of the Army Staff, the Chief of the Naval Staff and the Chief of the Air Staff; internationally, it is identical to the United Kingdom's Chief of the Defence Staff with similar functions to Pakistan's Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.[8][9]
- ^ "Services rules amended for Army, Navy and Air Force, CDS can serve till 65". theprint.in. 29 December 2019.
- ^ "Report of the 7th Central Pay Commission of India" (PDF). Seventh Central Pay Commission, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
- ^ "CDS Salary 2024: Basic Pay Scale, Benefits, Perks & Allowances". www.cheggindia.com. 19 January 2024.
- ^ "Chiefs of Armed Forces". www.india.gov.in.
- ^ "Explainer: What India's First Chief of Defence Staff Is Supposed To Do". thewire.in. 31 December 2019.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
ORF1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Functions of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)". pib.gov.in. 3 February 2020.
- ^ "President's Secretariat" (PDF). www.mha.gov.in. 26 July 1979.
- ^ "The Indian army's first Chief of Defence Staff". tribune.com.pk. 7 January 2020.