The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) (Hindi: थलसेनाध्यक्ष, romanized: Thalasenādhyakṣh) is the office of the titular-cum-professional head of the Indian Army (IA), the land forcesbranch of the Indian Armed Forces.[3] Customarily held by a four-stargeneral officer, the COAS is the senior-most operational officer of the IA, tasked with the roles of overseeing the overall functioning of the force during peace and wartime, committing to the preparation-cum-maintenance of the force's operational effectiveness and defending the nation's territorial integrity-cum-sovereignty.[4] Also a permanent member of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) and the National Security Council (NSC), the COAS also bears the responsibility of advising the nation's civilian leadership i.e., the Government of India on all matters privy to the IA.[5]
Following independence, the IA retained its headquarters at GHQ India, New Delhi - headed General Sir Rob Lockhart as the first post-independence C-in-C, while the PA established its headquarters at GHQ Pakistan, Rawalpindi - headed by General Frank Messervy (later succeeded by General Sir Douglas Gracey) as its inaugural C-in-C. Nevertheless, the two forces were directed under the auspices of the Supreme Commander's Headquarters (Supreme HQ), headed by Field Marshal Sir Claude Auchinleck, the Supreme Commander. In January 1948, the position of Supreme Commander was abolished and bifurcated into the positions of Commander British Forces in India and the Commander British Forces in Pakistan, located at Bombay and Karachi, respectively, and with the responsibility of overseeing the repatriation of British military units to the United Kingdom.[9] In June 1948, the title of C-in-C was modified with the prefix Chief of the Army Staff, and re-designated as Chief of the Army Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Indian Army (COAS & C-in-C)[10]
In January 1949, upon the impeding retirement of General Sir Roy Bucher - the IA's second C-in-C, the Government of India considered the decision to appoint a native Indian general officer to the position; up until then, Indian officers had only achieved the positions associated with the three-star rank of lieutenant general.[11] Three lieutenant-generals were shortlisted as candidates for the position, namely:
Ultimately, Cariappa was chosen to succeed Bucher, which he did on 15 January 1949, with the substantive rank of a four-star general - which thus made him the first Indian-origin general and first native chief of the Indian Army; the day of his appointment has been commemorated annually ever since as Army Day.[12] Shrinagesh, nevertheless, later served as COAS from 1955 to 1957.[13]
Republic-era (1950-present)
In 1955, the designation of the position was shortened to simply to Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) through the Commanders-In-Chief (Change in Designation) Act, 1955; in accordance of with Act - the last C-in-C of the IA, General Rajendrasinhji Jadeja, was appointed the first COAS.[14]
In January 1973, General S. H. F. J. Manekshaw, the IA's seventh COAS, was promoted to the five-star rank of field marshal, in recognition of his leadership during the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War - which made him the only-serving COAS to be ever promoted to field marshal.[15] K. M. Cariappa, the second C-in-C of the IA, too was promoted to the rank thirteen years later, in January 1986; however, unlike Manekshaw, he had superannuated at the rank of general in 1953 and had been in retirement for thirty-three years before his elevation.[11] To note, although a field marshal is nominally the highest-ranking officer in the IA, the rank is all but titular with no operational duties attached, which leaves the COAS as the highest operationally-active officer in the IA.[16]
Seated at the Integrated Headquarters of Ministry of Defence (Army) (IHQ of MoD (Army)), stationed in New Delhi, the COAS is the senior-most operational officer of the IA, and is tasked with the following:
Responsibility for the overall functioning of the organization's facets, such as command, control, administration and strategy.[17]
Commitment towards the preparation-cum-maintenance of the organization's troops, equipment, facilities and operational effectiveness during periods of peace and conflict.[18]
Protection of the nation's territorial integrity-cum-sovereignty during periods of armed conflict or war.[4][19]
The office's eminence in the aforementioned groups thus grants the appointee with the role to advise the Minister of Defence (Raksha Mantri or RM) on the affairs related to the IA's functioning and the promotion of an comprehensive integrated planning policy with respect to the affairs of tri-service integration, doctrinal strategy, capability development, defence acquisition and infrastructure.[21][22]
Structure
As the titular-cum-professional head of the force, the COAS is assisted by one subordinate officer and three principal staff officers, namely:
Beginning in the pre-independence era, the office of COAS has customarily been held by a lone four-star general.[25] The move to appoint a new designate to the position usually begins three months before the change-of-command, wherein the Ministry of Defence (MoD) reviews the résumés of the IA's sole Vice Chief of Army Staff (VCOAS) and five General Officer Commanding-in-Chiefs (of the force's five combatant commands) - all of whom are lieutenant generals, before making a decision.[26] Appointments to the position are made by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) - comprising the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence, upon recommendation from the IHQ of MoD (Army); appointees to the office are automatically deemed promoted to the rank of general.[27]
Notably, for the first two decades following India's independence, the C-in-C and the successor COAS were the only four-star officers in the Indian Armed Forces, while the chiefs of the Indian Navy (IN) and Indian Air Force (IAF) were headed by three-star vice admirals and air marshals, respectively; the first chiefs to be promoted to four-star ranks of admiral and air chief marshal occurred in 1968 and 1966, respectively.[28]
Since 1950, the senior-most lieutenant generals in the IA's command cadre have customarily been appointed as COAS, nevertheless, this tradition has been broken twice, first in 1983 - when then-prime minister Indira Gandhi chose to appoint then-Lieutenant General A. K. Vaidya to supersede one senior officer, and in 2016 - when prime minister Narendra Modi chose to appoint then-Lieutenant General Bipin Rawat to supersede two senior officers.[12]
Tenure
According to the IA's Army Rules, 1954 - a COAS-appointee reaches superannuation upon the completion of three years in the position or at the age of 62, whichever is earlier.[29] Additionally, a COAS-appointee is also eligible for promotion to the position of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) - the professional head of the tri-service armed forces, if the succession schedules of both positions align, or if the serving incumbent is transferred; as of 2024, General Bipin Rawat has been the sole COAS-appointee to be appointed to the position of CDS.[30] However, appointees to the office are almost never given any extension to their tenures; strikingly, the only time such an extension was ever granted was to General S. H. F. J. Manekshaw, the then-COAS, from his original superannuation date of June 1972 to January 1973.[31]
Previously, in the event of the an abrupt stoppage during the incumbent's tenure - by termination, resignation or sudden demise, the senior-most lieutenant-general in IA's command cadre has been customarily appointed as the successor; this situation has occurred twice in the past: first in 1962 - when then-Lieutenant General J. N. Chaudhuri was appointed after the resignation of then-incumbent General Pran Nath Thapar, and again in 1993 - when then-Lieutenant General Shankar Roychowdhury was appointed after the sudden demise of then-COAS General B. C. Joshi.[32]
The undermentioned table chronicles the appointees to the office of Commander-in-Chief, Indian Army (C-in-C) and the successor office of Chief of Army Staff (COAS), beginning from August 1947 to the present-day.[33] Ranks and honours are as at the completion of their tenure:
Indian Army
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Chief of Defence Staff
Vice Chief of the Army Staff (VCOAS)
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