New Delhi: With Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan scheduled to demit office on May 30, 2026, following the eight-month extension granted him by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet in September 2025, the government will imminently face one of its most consequential appointments in India’s higher defence structure.By long-standing – though not legally binding – military convention, the successor to a Service Chief is usually meant to be announced about three months before the incumbent steps down to ensure continuity and an orderly handover. By that covenant, should it be applied to a CDS appointment, the window for naming the next CDS is now approaching later this month, to provide institutional clarity and allow structured transition and policy alignment at the topmost levels of military management.However, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet notification granting General Chauhan’s continued tenure as CDS beyond his initial three-year term, also included the qualifier “or until further orders,” – as per the September 24, 2025 Press Information Bureau notification – thereby keeping the door formally open for him to remain in office beyond the stated date of May 26, 2026.This somewhat convenient codicil could mean either that the government may prefer his continuation, or that it is deliberately keeping its options open and timing the military leadership change for political, reform-linked, or other strategic reasons, before eventually deciding on General Chauhan’s successor.In this image posted on Feb. 2, 2026, Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Anil Chauhan writes in the visitors’ book during his visit to Armenian Genocide Memorial and Museum, in Yerevan, Armenia. Photo: X/@HQ_IDS_India via PTI.But the CDS post itself has already shown that it does not always follow established personnel rhythms.The nine-month gap between the December 2021 death of General Bipin Rawat – India’s first CDS, appointed in December 2019 – in an Indian Air Force (IAF) helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu, and the eventual selection of General Chauhan in September 2022, for instance, highlighted just how elastic, and at times arbitrary, the process has been rendered.Moreover, the entire elevation of retired Lieutenant General Chauhan – after superannuating 16 months earlier in May 2021 as the Eastern Army Commander – was extraordinary on multiple counts. He became the first retired three-star officer recalled to active duty- or re-commissioned, as many veterans sardonically dubbed it as a four-star CDS. Besides, as Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, one of his many additional charges as CDS, General Chauhan was also deemed senior to all three serving service chiefs, in what is a novel and unprecedented inversion of military hierarchy for a promotee officer.General Chauhan’s appointment was enabled by a surprising government notification issued on June 7, 2022 – nearly six months after CDS General Bipin Rawat’s death – which widened eligibility for the post to include serving and retired three-star officers below 62 years of age. This change came about after the government chose not to elevate any of the then-serving chiefs, including Indian Army Chief of Staff General M. M. Naravane, who was widely seen as a leading contender.Former Chief of Army Staff General M.M. Naravane. Photo: PTIThe governmental fiat made it clear that executive preference overrode established service seniority norms, setting aside decades of promotion convention in a single political stroke. The same notification also created room for delay and discretion in the selection process, opening a wider-than-usual candidate pool and enabling the government to take another three months before finally naming General Chauhan as CDS. Earlier, he had served as military advisor to National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, following his retirement.However, this time around, veterans and analysts believe, the current service chief’s retirement timelines could shape the CDS’s succession calculus, as all three retire within five months of one another.Indian Navy chief Admiral D.K. Tripathi will be the first to retire in May, followed by the Indian Army’s General Upendra Dwivedi in July, both after reaching 62 years of age. However, Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh, who took charge on September 30, 2024, is scheduled to serve until October 31, 2026.In this screengrab from a video posted on Jan. 26, 2026, Indian Navy marching contingent, front, and other marching contingents and tableaux proceed during the 77th Republic Day Parade at Kartavya Path, in New Delhi. Photo: X/@NarendraModi/YT via PTI.These staggered but closely timed retirements give the government considerable latitude, should it choose to exercise it by elevating one of the serving chiefs as CDS, given that the earlier “out-of-the-box” appointment of Lt Gen. Chauhan was not uniformly welcomed within the armed forces or among veterans. It was widely looked upon by many of these officers as a departure from established promotion logic and inter-service balance. “Repeating a similar move could reignite that debate and reinforce perceptions of arbitrariness and excessive political interference in service affairs,” said a three-star IAF veteran, requesting anonymity.Others said that it could also further highlight the perception that the appointment of India’s topmost military officer is driven less by strict seniority and more by executive discretion. They added that once such a perception takes hold, it inevitably invites questions about process, transparency, and institutional balance within the higher defence framework.That, in turn, could well tilt the CDS appointment towards a serving chief – particularly since all of their three services performed ably during Operation Sindoor, with the Indian Army and especially the IAF leadership, drawing more visible operational attention. One other senior IAF veteran maintained that choosing the CDS from among incumbent chiefs would also align more closely with established service expectations and ‘dampen’ talk of further politicising the armed forces.Unlike the appointment of a service chief, where succession is visible months in advance, CDS selection has so far remained deliberately opaque. Consequently, it had also triggered ‘jostling’ among senior officers and their institutional backers, expressed through subtle background briefings of the officers in the running. Carefully crafted media profiles, emphasis on particular operational achievements and renewed highlighting of their joint-service postings too comprised part of this campaign.And, though India’s CDS post is broadly modelled on the US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs system, the way it is being operated in practice has already begun to diverge from the original. In the US model, for example, the Chairman serves a fixed four-year term, extensions are not the norm, and continuity is ensured by institutional processes rather than by retaining the same individual.The recent extension granted to General Chauhan breaks the established mould, introducing the perception – however unintended – of political influence, as the CDS’s tenure now appears to hinge on executive discretion rather than rule-bound norms. This departure from the military’s tradition of fixed-term service raises questions of personal preference and proximity to power. Even when administratively justified, the optics remain overtly political, and in civil-military relations, optics matter.In this screengrab from a video posted on Jan. 26, 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan, Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) Air Chief Marshal A P Singh and others as he arrives to pay tribute at the National War Memorial on the occasion of the 77th Republic Day, in New Delhi. Photo: X@NarendraModi/YT via PTI.Meanwhile, progress on establishing Integrated Theatre Commands (ITCs) under General Chauhan is widely regarded as stalled, largely due to lingering uncertainties over their respective operational command and control architecture. The Department of Military Affairs (DMA), which General Chauhan also heads, has struggled to define who would exercise ultimate operational authority over the ITCs, a thorny issue because the CDS, despite being the senior-most military officer, cannot command the three service chiefs and is limited, by his foundational mandate, to providing impartial military advice to the government.Complicating matters further, the roles of the three four-star service chiefs are being reassessed in a manner they reportedly resent. Initially envisaged under the ITC rubric as being restricted to providing manpower, personnel training, and logistical support, the chiefs reportedly pushed for overarching operational responsibilities, challenging the authority of theatre commanders. Plans for four-star ITC commanders have reportedly been shelved to avoid necessitating a five-star CDS, leaving the new commanders at three-star rank, for now, but that could well change.India has long wrestled with military jointness. Multi-service bodies such as the HQ Integrated Defence Staff (2001), Strategic Forces Command, and Andaman and Nicobar Command, intended as test beds for ITCs, had largely failed to perpetuate them.Personnel, fiscal, and institutional issues had further complicated matters. Integrating organisations like the Border Roads Organisation, Indian Coast Guard, and paramilitary forces into ITCs raises service, salary, and retirement complexities. Additionally, existing three-star commanders of 17 single-service commands face displacement, while several prestigious Principal Staff Officers to the respective service Chiefs could become redundant, only fuelling disaffection which General Chauhan is reportedly grappling with in his extended term of office.In conclusion, it remains unclear what the government achieved by recalling General Chauhan from retirement. Firstly, the move came after a nine-month gap following General Rawat’s sudden death, during which the post remained vacant, undermining any claim of continuity. And though General Chauhan’s selection may have been intended to stabilise leadership, it has done little to advance the structural reforms envisioned for the CDS framework.Many in defence circles quietly argue that a serving chief could bring the CDS role closer to its original intent. Already immersed in current operations and modernisation programs, a serving officer commanded credibility among peers and understands inter-service dynamics first-hand, more than a long-retired one.Moreover, such continuity could reduce delays and friction that often accompany the induction of retired officers, particularly in complex initiatives like ITCs. While past appointments have favoured experience over immediacy, selecting a serving chief could signal a shift toward operational effectiveness and institutional cohesion – making the CDS a true and swift driver of jointness and reform.