India needs quick transition ability from ‘No War No Peace’ to ‘limited war’. Is CDS ready?

The smooth and efficient functioning of the military organisation is to a great extent determined by the state of relationships between commanders in the chain of command. Fairly often, the dynamics of relationships transpires in an ambience that is often fraught with uncertainty, ambiguity, danger and fear. However, when combined with institutionalised and professional civil-military relations, military effectiveness gets maximised. The institution of the post of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and creation of the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) in December 2019 were clearly designed to enhance military effectiveness. The mandate assigned to create the Theatre Command system was a recognition of the need to change the prevailing structures so as to strengthen jointness among the three Services and improve civil-military relations.