765 Group Capt Murli Menon (Retd) Defence analyst The Kargil Review Committee recommended a ‘first among equals’ Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) — albeit a four-star one approved by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in December 2019 and not a five-star one, as was desirable in a nuclearised scenario and was expected to enhance the procurement and operational integration of the three services. But a series of missteps such as pension reforms and theaterisation bode ill for national security. The attempt by the DMA to create ‘theatre commands’ unabashedly promotes turf battles between the three services rather than leading to defence capability integration. The need for India to replace its existing seven each of Army/ IAF and three Naval single-service sectoral commands with five or so integrated theatre commands — west, north and east for Pakistan/China threats, air defence and maritime theatres — is being proposed without thinking it through.