Chandigarh: By shortlisting Lieutenant General Manoj Pande as the Indian Army (IA)’s next Vice Chief of Staff, the Union government appears also to be advancing the inter-related appointment of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) to succeed General Bipin Rawat, who died in a helicopter crash last month.
The Wire had earlier reported that the CDS’s appointment had been postponed since it was predicated on the government deciding on the next Chief of Army Staff (CoAS), as the incumbent General Manoj Naravane was almost certain to be elevated to the country’s top military post.