The article deals with the issue of the necessity of identifying and maintaining equilibrium between the two key constituents of the higher defence organisation (HDO) of the country, namely, the civil bureaucrats and the service officers. In India, the military and the bureaucracy share a very delicate relationship. Though the protocol issues between the various appointments have been defined by the government, there is a requirement of greater clarity in the working relationship between them.
Democracies of the world have many similarities, notwithstanding the differences in the system of governance and the governmental structure. The decision making by the Higher Defence Organisation (HDO) and the government of the United States and India face similar challenges regardless of the threat perception and the role, size and the employment of the military.
All is not right with the Indian Higher Defence Organisation (HDO) became public knowledge, perhaps for the first time, after the Kargil War in 1999. There have been significant changes in the geo-strategic situation and the nature of threat faced by India over the years and yet little has changed in the higher defence management and the HDO of the country.
The Chairman COSC will neither be the Commander of India’s Armed Forces nor will he be able to do justice to his advisory role because of the constraints that will affect his functioning in the present system.
Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee: A Midway Solution
The Chairman COSC will neither be the Commander of India’s Armed Forces nor will he be able to do justice to his advisory role because of the constraints that will affect his functioning in the present system.