Chief of the Defence Staff deadline for proposal to create Air Defence Command

NEW DELHI: A day after General Bipin Rawat took charge as the country’s first Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), he met with all three service chiefs on Thursday and directed to prepare a proposal for setting up of an Air Defence Command for all three forces.

During the meeting, he also gave a deadline to them to come up with a proposal. “The time frame of this proposal is June 30, 2020,” the Ministry of Defence said.

Till now air defence command is distributed between all the three services. General Rawat’s first priority is to set up an Air Defence Command to secure India from any aerial attack.

Indian Air Force plays a major role in air defence but the Indian Army does have its own area air defence system and Indian Navy has a most advanced complex and dynamic air defence system.

He also set out priorities for execution of synergy by June 30 and December, 31, 2020. Some of the areas identified for jointness and synergy include creation of common logistics support pools in stations where two or more services have their presence. Emphasising collegiate system of functioning, General Rawat directed that all three services and Coast Guard must be consulted and their views obtained in a time-bound manner.

“Decisions will, however, be taken to ensure optimisation of resources. Efforts will be made to cut out infructuous ceremonial activities, which are manpower intensive,” the Defence Ministry said. The CDS stressed that all must work towards accomplishing desired results and coming up with healthy views and ideas. (IANS)

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