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Admiral Sushil Kumar appointed Chief of Defence Staff

Naval Chief Admiral Sushil Kumar will take over as the country's first Chief of Defence Staff on Monday, according to highly-placed defence ministry sources.

Admiral Kumar, the senior most of the three service chiefs and also currently the chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, will take over in South Block after laying a wreath at the Amar Jawan Jyoti and receiving an inter-services guard of honour.

The appointment comes after the Cabinet Committee on Security chaired by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee cleared his name, before leaving for Teheran on a four-day state visit, the sources said.

The establishment of the post of CDS and its associated structures had been recommended by a Group of Ministers headed by Home Minister L K Advani and was placed before the cabinet for formal approval following a directive by the prime minister.

The committee had also recommended setting up of a Defence Procurement Board, modalities for which are being worked out by the defence ministry, the sources said.

The appointment of the CDS was recommended by one of the four task forces on management of defence set up by the Group of Ministers in the wake of findings of the Kargil review committee.

The other three task forces, which have also submitted their recommendations deal with border management, internal security and revamping intelligence set up in the country.

With the formal take over by Admiral Kumar, it will be almost after four decades that the Indian armed forces would have a CDS. During late fifties, the army chief acted as a commander in chief of the armed forces.

It was only after the famous spat between Gen Thimayya and then defence minister Krishna Menon during the run upto Sino-Indian conflict of 1962, that the President was given ceremonial powers of the supreme commander of the armed forces.

The sources said that Admiral Kumar, besides being the first ever CDS, will also continue as the Chief of the Naval staff.

Admiral Kumar retires by the end of this year, following which Army Chief Gen S Padmnabhan is likely to take over as CDS.

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