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Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement from the ramparts of the Red Fort that India will soon have a Chief of the Defence Staff is a welcome step and reflects a multi-sectoral urgency within the government to initiate reform. To be honest, this writer had earlier been sceptical about such a measure because of the fear that it would be a piecemeal step without any accompanying change in the Ministry of Defence.
While the previous dispensations did not display the seriousness and political will needed to view the military as a tool of statecraft, this government's approach seems to be different. The close involvement of the political leadership, ever since the cross-border strikes into Myanmar, in the military's operational matters has probably given it a bird's-eye view of the necessary reforms.
Further, even while acknowledging the military's contribution to national security, Mr. Modi has often expressed concerns about the lack of synergy within the armed forces not to the media, but directly to the senior leadership of the forces at the Unified Commanders' Conference.