Government Sets up Department of Military Affairs

The Prime Minister of India chaired Union Cabinet on Tuesday, December 24, 2019, gave its approval to the post of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). The Union Cabinet also gave its approval for establishing a separate Departement under the Ministry of Defence, name- Department of Military Affairs. The CDS will be the head of the Department of Military Affairs.  The Department of Military Affairs will deal with the following areas:

• The union of the armed forces, namely the tri-services- Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Indian Navy
• The Ministry of Defence’s integrated headquarters comprising of the headquarters of the Defence Staff, Army, Air force and Navy.
• The second line of defence, Indian Territorial Army
• All works and matters related to the Tri-services of the armed forces.
• Except capital acquisitions, as per prevalent rules and procdure, the procurement exclusive for the tri-services.

The Department of Military Affairs will also be mandated to work in the following areas:

• Promoting Make in India, encouraging the use of Indigenously developed equipment for the Services of the Armed Forces.
• Through joint planning, promoting cross-services cooperation in the fields of procurement, staffing and training.
• For optimal utilization of the resources, restructuring of the military commands by bringing in cooperation among the armed force services by joint military operations.