New Delhi: The government will consider a proposal for the appointment of a four-star officer as the permanent chairman of Chiefs of Staffs Committee who would be looking after the joint issues of the three armed forces.
Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry has written to all political parties seeking their views on the creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff, who would be a five-star officer and single point contact for government on defence issues, highly placed sources said here.
The proposal for the creation of the post of permanent chairman of COSC as part of the Naresh Chandra Committee recommendations has been sent to the Cabinet Committee on Security and the body headed by the Prime Minister will take a decision on the issue, they said.
Navy Chief Admiral D K Joshi had yesterday stated that all the three Services have agreed to have an exclusive Chairman of Chiefs of Staffs Committee who would be in-charge of looking after the tri-services issues and a final decision on the issue would be taken by the government.
He had said the post of the permanent chairman, COSC was a "stop gap" arrangement for the armed forces and the appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) was the "final resolution".
The CDS is a five-star officer proposed by the GoM formed after the Kargil war to suggest changes in the higher defence management structure of the country.
