Lieutenant General N.S. Raja Subramani Appointed Next CDS

The Central Government has appointed Lieutenant General N.S. Raja Subramani as the next Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).

The Ministry of Defence stated that Lieutenant General Subramani will also serve as the Secretary of the Department of Military Affairs from the date of assumption of charge and until further orders.

He will assume office on May 30, 2026, after the completion of General Anil Chauhan's tenure.

Key facts about Lieutenant General Subramani

Lieutenant General N.S. Raja Subramani is currently serving as the Military Advisor in the National Security Council Secretariat; he has held this position since September 1, 2025.

Previously, he served as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff from July 1, 2024, to July 31, 2025. He also held the position of General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of Central Command from March 2023 to June 2024.

Commissioned into the Garhwal Rifles in December 1985, Lieutenant General Subramani has a career spanning over 37 years in the Indian Army.

During his service, he has served in a variety of conflict zones and locations. He has held various command, staff and training positions.

Lieutenant General Subramani is a graduate of the National Defence Academy (NDA) and the Indian Military Academy (IMA).

He also attended the Joint Services Command and Staff College in Bracknell, United Kingdom, and the National Defence College in New Delhi.

He holds a Master of Arts degree from King's College London and an M.Phil. in Defence Studies from the University of Madras.

The post of Chief of Defence Staff

Its creation was recommended in 2001 by a Group of Ministers (GoM) tasked with studying the report of the Kargil Review Committee (1999).

Following the GoM's recommendations, the government created the Integrated Defence Staff in 2002 to establish the post of CDS, which was ultimately to serve as the secretariat for the CDS.

In 2012, the Naresh Chandra Committee recommended the appointment of a permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee to allay concerns about the CDS.

The post of CDS was finally created in 2019 on the recommendations of a committee of defence experts headed by Lieutenant General D.B. Shekatkar.

General Bipin Rawat was the country's first CDS and was appointed on December 31, 2019.