Lt Gen Chauhan (retd) was the Director General of Military Operations of the Army during the Balakot air strikes in 2019 when Indian airplanes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp deep inside Pakistan in response to the Pulwama terror strike.
A cross-section of service officers said the swift appointment of a CDS would either end, or at least mitigate Delhi’s vacillation over its stand with regard to Russia over its campaign in Ukraine.