General Bipin Rawat's death creates an unprecedented void in India's military hierarchy

General Bipin Rawat's death has created an unprecedented void in the military hierarchy, which the Centre is likely to address soon. As India's first Chief of Defence Staff, Rawat was by far the senior-most officer of the armed forces and had a year of his three-year term left.

Though an announcement on the successor has not been made, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the rest of the Cabinet Committee on Security met on Wednesday evening to take stock of the situation and measures that needed to be taken.

Army Chief General MM Naravane is the senior-most officer among service chiefs. He took over on December 31, 2019, and has over two years seniority over the Navy and Air Force chiefs. There is no clear rule on whether a serving officer can be appointed CDS. If Naravane is appointed the next CDS, the line of succession in the Army will be altered as he has several months left to retire.

As there is no clear rule on whether or for how long a serving head can be appointed CDS, the government is set to move swiftly to appoint someone to the important position. It means the government may consider a recently retired service chief or could elevate a serving four star chief to the position.

Senior-most officers in the Army after Naravane include Lt Gen CP Mohanty, Vice-Chief of Army Staff and Lt Gen YK Joshi, the high-profile Northern Army Commander. Both officers are from the same batch and seniority, making the choice difficult, though Mohanty is the serving Vice-Chief.

The task of a new CDS will not be easy, given the large responsibilities. Several major decisions pertaining to formation of theatre commands are at a crucial juncture, with studies currently underway in all three services to suggest exact structure and command roles of officers.