Defence Planning in India

Although India’s defence planning mechanism has evolved over the years, it is still inadequate with respect to prioritisation of precious resources, optimum force suture and creation of a strong domestic defence industrial base. Given India’s complex security environment and massive expenditure on national defence, the planning mechanism needs to be strengthened by articulation of national security objectives and creation of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). The CDS and its supporting structure, as argued by the Group of Ministers (GoM), would be in a better position to bring in necessary reforms which the present system is constrained to do