Let General Chauhan was serving as the Military Advisor to the National Security Council and was retired as Eastern Command Chief in May 2021.
New Delhi: Central government on Wednesday appointed Lt General Anil Chauhan (Retired) as Chief Of Defence Staff (CDS). Anil Chauhan’s appointment came nine months after death of Genral Bipin Rawat.
Let General Chauhan was serving as the Military Advisor to the National Security Council and was retired as Eastern Command Chief in May 2021. He is 61 years old.
In the month of June, Defence Minster Rajnath Singh had said the next Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) will be appointed soon and for the purpose, a list of 40 names have been prepared. The post of CDS has been lying empty since the death of General Bipin Rawat on December 8 last year.
The government had amended the service rules of the Armed Forces, making all serving and recently retired three-star officers — Lieutenant General, Air Marshal and Vice Admiral — under the age of 62 eligible for the post of CDS.
On December 8, 2021, former CDS Bipin Rawat, his wife and members of his staff were amongst the 10 passengers and four crew members aboard an Indian Air Force Mil Mi-17 helicopter flight enroute from the Sulur Air Force Base to the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington, where Rawat was to deliver a lecture. Around 12:10 pm, the aircraft crashed near a residential colony of a private tea estate employees on the outskirts of the hamlet of Nanjappachatiram, Bandishola panchayat, in the Katteri-Nanchappanchathram area of Coonoor taluk, Nilgiris district.
The crash site was 10 km (6.2 mi; 5.4 nmi) from the flight’s intended destination. Bipin Rawat’s liaison officer, Group Captain Varun Singh, initially survived the incident, but later succumbed to injuries on December 15. Rawat was 63 at the time of his death.
In a career spanning over nearly 40 years, he has held several appointments and has extensive experience in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East.
