New Delhi, April 30 Army chief General M M Naravane retired on Saturday but the mystery over the next chief of defence staff still hangs in the absence of government announcement on the coveted military post.

General Manoj Pande succeeded General Naravane, becoming the first officer from the Corps of Engineers to become chief of army staff.

The government has not decided on the post of chief of defence staff, lying vacant since General Bipin Rawat died in a chopper crash early last December. It was widely speculated that General Naravane, the senior most officer among all the chiefs, is the front runner for the top post to head the tri-services. But, government sources aware of the developments do not read too much into the news reports.

The Centre, it may be recalled, had announced elevation of General Rawat as the first CDS a day before he was demit office of the army chief in December of 2019.

It is learnt that some time back Prime Minister Narendra Modi had consultations with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on the CDS appointment issue. Nothing, however, emerged from it prompting to postpone the decision making process. The Prime Minister will take the final call on the next CDS, being head of the appointments committee of the cabinet.

Defence ministry sources do not rule out the possibility of a retired chief being considered for the CDS job.

After Rawat’s demise, the government had returned to the temporary arrangement and tasked senior most officer General Narvane to take over as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee for ensuring synergy among Army, Air Force and Navy. Now Air Force chief being the senior most will automatically become Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.

The CDS, who serves till 65, is also the single-point military advisor to the defence minister, head of the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS), and secretary of the Department of Military Affairs.

On his last day in South Block, General Naravane called on President Ram Nath Kovind and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who praised his military leadership. “Had a wonderful meeting with the Army Chief General MM Naravane, who is going to retire today after serving the nation for 42 years. His contributions as a military leader has strengthened India’s defence capabilities and preparedness. I wish him success in his future endeavours,” Minister Singh tweeted attaching their photograph.

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