Defence Ministry 2.0
The new DMA, with the CDS as its Secretary, is staffed by senior personnel and directly involves the military in the formal deliberative structure of the government
IN HIS SECOND TERM, Prime Minister Narendra Modi completely reshaped the defence ministry architecture, going well beyond the demands of the armed forces and the national security community. In his own words, “the creation of the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) and the instituting of the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) is a momentous and comprehensive reform that will help our country face the ever-changing challenges of modern warfare.”
With this, India once again has a CDS. Under the British Raj, we had a CDS of sorts—the Commander-in-Chief of India, the Jangi Laat. This decision by Prime Minister Modi partly reversed what has been described as an example of so-called post-Independence “Nehruvian perfidy”—the downgrading of the position
