India’s cabinet has approved the creation of a senior post that will advise the government on military issues concerning all branches of the armed forces, as well as head a new military affairs office.

The chief of defense staff (CDS) will be a 4-star general and function as secretary of the Department of Military Affairs, a new office under the Ministry of Defense. Outgoing Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat has been appointed to serve as the first CDS, according to Indian media.

The CDS will act as a senior adviser to the defense minister on matters involving all of India’s three military branches – the army, navy, and air force.

The position was created in the hope of synchronizing training and operations between the three forces, as well as to improve the quality of military advice given to India’s political leadership.

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First proposed by a committee in 1999, the new post comes as tensions between Pakistan over the disputed Kashmir region heat up. Both sides have acknowledged that the decades-old struggle over Kashmir could spark a nuclear conflict.

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