About four months since Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee initiated consultations with political parties on the ticklish proposal for a Chief of Defence Staff, here come a few posers from the principal Left ally CPI(M): If the CDS has to be chosen from among the chiefs of the three Services on rotational basis, what is the point of appointing a CDS? | |
| It would be yet another bureaucratic arrangement and a mere cosmetic exercise. |
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| And if the CDS does not come from among the three Service Chiefs, where would the defence minister stand in terms of the exercise of powers and authority vis-à-vis the CDS? Does the CDS have to be an authority or institution in itself? If that is so, what happens to the civilian authority? Who controls the nuclear command? |
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| "In fact, we are not clear on many issues. For instance, how will a CDS fit in the existing scheme of things? We will take a view on this matter only after the government clarifies these points ," said CPI(M) Politburo member and MP Sitaram Yechury. |
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| These posers will figure in CPI(M)'s response to the defence minister, to be sent shortly. |
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