Former Army Gen Bipin Rawat was appointed as the Chief of Defence Staff by the Cabinet Committee of Securities on December 31. He will be the single-point military adviser to the prime minister and defence minister on key strategic issues, as suggested by the Kargil Review Committee in 1999, which was approved by the committee last week.

Rawat, who retired from the post of Army General and handed the reigns to his successor Gen Manoj Naravane on December 31, was the frontrunner to the position. The CDS is said to be first among equals among service with a higher list of protocols.