Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar main agenda now is CDS and unified intelligence

Prime Minister Narendra Modi government has been doing some out-of-the-box thinking. The way Prime Minister Modi tapped the goodwill that existed for their motherland among Indians abroad, turning each of them into an Ambassador of India is just one example.

Let's now talk about an area that is work in progress but needs urgent attention. We need a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and similarly we need a genuinely unified intelligence service. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is now pushing for CDS but let me first talk of intelligence as these two are linked.

Let me give you an example. A friend of mine went as an Army commando with the plane that went to Kandhar to get our hostages back. A planeful of RAW, army intelligence, diplomats, politicians, commandos accompanied. The best part is, upon landing in Kandhar where we had no idea what was in store for us and needless to say - we needed to act as a unit. But one officer came to my friend and wrote on his hand - RAW ? My friend, the commando - just stared back. Neither knew who the other was! That too on enemy territory!

This is just one example. Many criminals and dreaded terrorists escape because our intelligence remains fragmented.

Why we have a fragmented approach in intelligence gathering and sharing and no Chief of Defence staff stems from one reason. Those who framed our Constitution had genuine fears - they wanted a democracy which in no way could be taken over by the army. They did not want all intelligence under one person as well. The way Pakistan has turned out where the ISI chief and Army Chief join hands and takeover with the help of a well-trained coup force 111 Brigade shows our forefathers' fears were not without basis.

So we have to keep safeguards. But any organisation that does not have a scalar chain of command is sooner or later bound to face hardships. What we presently have is three forces Chiefs with a nominal superficial integration. A Chief of Defence Staff will head all three - Army, Navy and Air Force will truly integrate our forces. Defence Minister Parrikar will put the proposal to have a CDS but its upto the Cabinet Committee on Security to decide.

A full-fledged move towards Chief of Defence Staff will also signal that Indian democracy has matured, confident in its core values and more fit to combat external aggression and terror with full force.