Outgoing Army chief General Bipin Rawat was on Monday appointed as India's first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), who will act as the principal military adviser to the defence minister on all matters relating to tri-services.

"The government has decided to appoint General Bipin Rawat as the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) with effect from 31.12.2019 and until further orders and extension in service of Rawat," a Defence Ministry order reads.Rawat was commissioned into the Army in December 1978 and is currently serving as Chief of Army Staff since January 1, 2017.

His appointment to the newly created post came a day before he was due to retire following a three-year tenure as the Army Chief during which he initiated a series of reforms in the 1.3 million-strong force besides following a policy of "hot pursuit" in dealing with cross border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

A key mandate of the CDS will be to facilitate restructuring of military commands for optimal utilisation of resources by bringing about jointness in operations, including through establishment of joint/the atrecommands

Officials said bringing about 'joint-ness' in operation,logistics, transport, training, support services, communications, repairs and maintenance of the three services within three years will be another major mandate of the CDS.

The tri-service agencies, organisations and commands relatingto cyber and space will be under the command of the CDS and he will alsofunction as the Military Adviser to the Nuclear Command Authority.

The CDS will also be member of Defence Acquisition Councilchaired by the defence minister and Defence Planning Committee chaired by theNSA.

A high-level committee set up to examine the gaps in thecountry's security system in the wake of the Kargil war in 1999 had called forappointment of a CDS as a single-point military adviser to the defenceminister.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the creation ofthe CDS post in his Independence Day speech this year. General Rawat assumedcharge as Chief of Army Staff on December 31, 2016. He was to retire on Tuesdayfrom the service. Before becoming the Army Chief, he handled variousoperational responsibilities in many areas, including along the LoC withPakistan, the LAC with China and in the Northeast.

Last week, Gen Bipin Rawat drew criticism from theopposition parties after he publicly criticised people leading protests overthe new citizenship law, saying leadership is not about guiding masses to carryout arson and violence across the country.

There were also sharp reactions from activists and militaryveterans who accused him of making political remarks, thereby compromising thelong-held convention in the Army of not wading into political matters.

In his three-year tenure as Army Chief, he has facedallegations of not remaining politically neutral. An alumnus of St EdwardSchool, Shimla, and the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, he wascommissioned into the 11th Gorkha Rifles of the Indian Army in December 1978.

He has has vast experience in operations across a widespectrum of conflict and terrain profiles. He commanded an Infantry battalionalong the Line of Actual Control in the Eastern Sector, an Infantry Division inthe Kashmir Valley, and a Corps in the North East.

He had also commanded a multinational brigade in theDemocratic Republic of Congo (MONUC). Gen Rawat is a graduate of the DefenceServices Staff College, Wellington, the Higher Command and National DefenceCollege courses and, has attended the Command and General Staff Course at FortLeavenworth, the US.

Indian Army congratulated Gen Rawat on being appointed asthe first Chief of the Defence Staff. "It is a proud & historicalmoment. The appointment would bring in enhanced #Synergy #Jointness#Interoperability in the Armed forces," the Army tweeted.