Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee
The Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (Chairman COSC) is a position in the Armed Forces of India, usually held by a four-star military officer and the highest ranking member of the Indian military. The position holder chairs the Chiefs of Staff Committee, and serves as the principal adviser to the prime minister and Minister of Defence. The position is not a statutory office but rather a title held by the senior most serving military officer of India. Until 2020, the chairmanship of the COSC was held in rotation by the  senior-most service chief until his retirement, but this arrangement was found to be unsatisfactory. When the post of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) was established, its holder was also made the permanent chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC).. In the absence of the CDS, a temporary Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee may be appointed. Following the death of the late CDS Bipin Rawat in a helicopter crash in December 2021, General Manoj Mukund Naravane assumed the temporary role of Chairman COSC until such time a new CDS is appointed. History. The Chiefs of Staff  Committee was established on 15 August 1947, upon Indian independence, and was conceived as the "supreme professional body" to advise the Minister of Defence and the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs on all military-related matters. The Chairman of the Committee was the Commander-in-Chief (Chief of Staff from 1955) of the three armed forces who has been on the committee for the longest. General Sir Robert Lockhart was the first chairman, with General K. M. Cariappa appointed the first Indian chairman on 14 October 1951. The Committee was assisted by several sub-committees dealing with specific problems pertaining  to administrative, training and planning matters. Following the end of the Kargil war, Kargil Review Committee found there was a lack of communication between the service branches, and therefore suggested to create the position of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). This was however rejected by many members of the military, arguing that only great or imperial powers engaging in power projection needed that amount of integration. A compromise was reached with the office of the COSC. The Chairman was responsible for inter-service synergy. However, as the Chairman COSC only served as "Primus inter pares" to the other Chiefs of  Staff, he did not wield any power. The Chairman was assisted by the Integrated Defence Staff. Talks concerning the creation of a Chief of Defence Staff position continued for over a decade, along with a suggestion the position of chairman be made permanent, with a renewable two-year term. Both of these suggestions were rejected by the Indian Air Force. In December 2018, however, the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee Admiral Sunil Lanba stated the heads of the three services had "finally agreed on a permanent chief of staff committee," and the matter had been sent to the  Defence Ministry for consideration. On Independence Day 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the government's decision to make the Chief of Defence Staff the permanent Chairman COSC, with the CDS being a "first among equals" among the service chiefs, who would deal with India’s national security with a comprehensive approach, acting as a single-point military adviser to the prime minister and defence minister. On 15 December 2021, after the demise of General Bipin Rawat, the then Chief of Defence Staff on 8 December in a plane crash, General Manoj Mukund Naravane was appointed Chairman of the Chiefs  of Staff Committee, pending the appointment of a new CDS. List of chairmen. † Died in office.