Sareen nominated chairman of defence chiefs' panel

Air Chief Marshal S K Sareen will be the next chairman of the Chiefs Of Staff Committee. He will succeed General Shankar Roy Choudhury, who retires as the chief of army staff on September 30. The baton was formally handed over at a function held in South Block in New Delhi on Monday.

General Roy Choudhury expressed satisfaction at the excellent coordination among the three services, beginning with Operation Junagadh in 1948. Some of the successful instances of tri-services coordination were the Goa operation, the 1971 war leading to the emergence of Bangladesh as a sovereign nation, and the operations in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, he said.

The general said the Chiefs Of Staff Committee had played a major role in evolving a coordinated approach to issues of national security. It also succeeded in securing a better deal for the armed forces personnel in the Fifth Pay Commission, he said.

Air Chief Marshal Sareen lauded the general's efforts in guiding the committee and assured him that he would continue down the path laid by the outgoing chairman.

The Chiefs Of Staff Committee comprises the chiefs of the army, the navy and the air force and the longest-serving chief of staff is appointed as chairman.

All inter-services matters affecting the armed forces as a whole are discussed at the COSC forum.