Army chief supports CDS post, says integration of services important

Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat on Wednesday supported the creation of a post of ‘Chief of Defence Staff’ saying integration among the three services and with the Defence Ministry is mportant. He also spoke about Lt Gen Parveen Bakshi, who was superseded by him and is currently on a month-long leave, saying the support extended by him was positive. Gen Rawat refused to get into the issue of ranks when told that the post of CDS is likely to be a five-star rank, which will be above the three service chiefs. "I would not like to comment on the rank structure of CDS but I would say that integration among three services and of the services with Ministry of Defence is important," he told media.