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Chiefs of Staff Committee
Crest of the Chairman-Chiefs of Staff Committee.
Founded	15 August 1947
Country	India
Branch	Armed forces
Type	Military staff
Part of	Indian Armed Forces
Headquarters	Ministry of Defence, New Delhi, India
Website	www.india.gov.in
Commanders
Chairman	General Anil Chauhan PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM
Notable commanders	Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw MC General Bipin Rawat PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, YSM, SM, VSM, ADC
Insignia
Abbreviation	COSC

The Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) is an administrative forum of the senior-most military leaders of the Indian Armed Forces, which advises the Government of India on all military and strategic matters deemed privy to military coordination, direction and policy between the country's three armed services. By organization, the COSC is comprised several key members, namely, Chief of Defence Staff - who acts as the Committee's Permanent Chairman, along with the Chief of the Army Staff, the Chief of the Naval Staff and the Chief of the Air Staff - all of whom are also additionally supported by the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff.

By function, the COSC has two principal responsibilities: one, to inculcate and implement jointness through integration of, inter alia, the doctrine, logistics, and operations of the three armed services; two, to apprise to the nation's civilian leadership i.e., the Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, on all matters related to the nation's security. As such, it exists primarily as an advisory body, endowed with no executive command authority.

To execute its mandate, the COSC is closely supported by the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) and other inter-service bodies under its patronage that specialize in facets such as intelligence, personnel, operations and training. Comparably, the forum is identical to the United Kingdom's Chiefs of Staff Committee and Pakistan's Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee.

From 1947 to 2019, and briefly from 2021 to 2022 - the leadership of the COSC was rotated amongst the service chiefs (or Chiefs of Staff) of the three armed services, with the senior-most chief serving as Chairman-COSC with no fixed tenure; however, since 2020, the mantle of the COSC's chairmanship is held by the Chief of the Defence Staff, a separate office that functions independent of the service chiefs.

Functioning

The current membership of the Chiefs of Staff Committee:

Office	Photograph	Incumbent	Incumbent since	Service	Command Flag
Chief of Defence Staff (Permanent Chairman)		General Anil Chauhan PVSM UYSM AVSM SM VSM ADC	September 2022	Indian Army
Chief of the Army Staff		General Upendra Dwivedi PVSM AVSM ADC	June 2024	Indian Army
Chief of the Naval Staff		Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi PVSM AVSM NM	April 2024	Indian Navy
Chief of the Air Staff		Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh PVSM AVSM	September 2024	Indian Air Force
Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Non-voting member)		Lieutenant General Johnson P Mathew PVSM UYSM AVSM VSM	April 2023	Indian Army

Chief of Defence Staff

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) is the principal military authority and senior-most appointment of the Indian Armed Forces. Introduced in 2019, the CDS operates on a status of primus inter pares i.e., first among equals with the Chiefs of Staff and functions as the COSC's Permanent Chairman, independent of the Chiefs of Staff.

As Permanent Chairman-COSC, the CDS maintains the following responsibilities within the forum:

• Acting as the principal military advisor to the Minister of Defence on all affairs related to inter-service integration, coherence and functioning.
• Participating as a member of the Defence Acquisition Council chaired by Minister of Defence and Defence Planning Committee chaired by National Security Advisor.
• Exercising command authority over specific inter-service organizations/agencies/commands, namely, the Defence Cyber Agency (DCyA), the Defence Space Agency and the Armed Forces Special Operations Division vis-à-vis the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS).
• Functioning as the Military Adviser to the Nuclear Command Authority.

Chiefs of Staff

The service chiefs (also referred to as the Chiefs of Staff) of the three services are, namely, the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), the Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) and Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) - all of whom are customarily four-star officers.

As voting members of the COSC, the Chiefs of Staff function in the undermentioned manner:

• Functioning with the dual role of leadership as the service's statutory chief of staff and activity as its ex-officio commander i.e., in the former role, overseeing the staff-cum-administrative duties of the services; in the latter role, overseeing the service's operational duties.
• Advising the COSC and the civilian leadership on matters privy to their respective services; this is in contrast to the CDS, whose advice reflects a comprehensive nature involving multiple, rather than concerned inputs.
• Deliberating inter-service issues to foster joint-realization of the country's national security objectives.

However, their mandate of the Chiefs of Staff are not formally defined by statute, and are obfuscated by the undermentioned:

• The Organisation, Functions, Powers and Procedure of Defence Headquarters, 1952 defines the Service Headquarters (SHQ) i.e., the administrative centers of the three services as attached offices, which by statute, excludes them from the departmental structure of the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
  
• The (Allocation of Business) Rules, 1961, which defines the authority, responsibility and obligations of government departments, prescribes that the responsibility for the defence of India thereof is placed with the Defence Secretary; there is no mention of the Chiefs of Staffs or their respective SHQs.

Chief of Integrated Defence Staff

In addition to its aforementioned core members, the COSC's functioning is supported by the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS), which functions as the COSC's principal arm and secretariat. The IDS, which by role also acts as an inter-service interface for coordinating the armed services, is led by the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (CISC) - a three-star officer, who is a non-voting member of the COSC. Functionally, the CISC operates with the unofficial role of vice-CDS, to act as an adjudicator towards fostering inter-service coordination between the Service Headquarters (SHQ) of the three services.

To support the Chairman-COSC, the CISC undertakes the following roles:

• Chair the Defence Crisis Management Group.
• Supervise the co-ordination of Long Range Plans, Five Years Plans and annual budgetary proposals for the three services and presenting coordinated set of proposals to Minister of Defence after discussion with Chiefs of Staff in COSC and Defence Secretary.
• Coordinating and analyzing critical deficiencies in force capabilities, assessing the impact of such deficiencies on national military objectives.

History

Creation (1947)

Before India's attainment of independence in 1947, the military organization in the then-British Raj had been constituted as a theatre of operations, wherein the policymaking for the colony's defence affairs emanated from the Committee of Imperial Defence (CID), which oversaw the formulation of military strategy for the overall British Empire. Following the dissolution of the Raj, India's inaugural Governor-General, Lord Mountbatten, sought to establish an administrative structure for the management of the armed forces of the new country. Consequently, Mountbatten selected his chief of staff, Lord Ismay, to execute the task.

Ismay, in his own stead, had spent a significant portion of his military career as a staff officer: he had served in the CID in a secretarial role during the 1920s-1930s with the responsibility of military planning, and had later served on the British Chiefs of Staff Committee during the Second World War; these postings thus allowed him to gain rich expertise in defence administration and subsequently, Mountbatten's choice.

As such, Ismay formulated a practical model for India's higher defence management, comprising a three-tier higher defence organization:

• Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC), chaired by the Prime Minister.
• Defence Minister's Committee (DMC), chaired by the Defence Minister.
• Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC), as part of the Military Wing of the Cabinet Secretariat.

The COSC, which formed the third-tier of Ismay's formula, consisted of three Chiefs of Staff, who would serve as professional advisors to the civilian government wherein their mandate was to render guidance on military planning and operational matters. The COSC, which would come to be a part of the Military Wing of the Cabinet Secretariat, was thus to be led by the Chiefs of Staff on a rotational basis, with the senior-most Chief serving as Chairman-COSC.

Additionally, Ismay formulated a series of several sub-committees that would address the functioning of the COSC and coordination between the three services, staff both by civil servants and uniformed officers; some of them were:

• Joint Operation Committee (JOCOM).
• Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC).
• Joint Training Committee (JTC).
• Joint Planning Committee (JPC).

Chairmen

† Died in office.

No.	Portrait	Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Defence branch	Ref.
1		Lockhart, RobGeneral Sir Robert Mcgregor Macdonald Lockhart KCB CIE MC (1893–1981)	15 August 1947	31 December 1947	138 days	Indian Army
2		Elmhirst, ThomasAir Marshal Sir Thomas Elmhirst KBE, CB, AFC, DL (1895–1982)	31 December 1947	22 February 1950	2 years, 53 days	Royal Indian Air Force  Indian Air Force
3		Parry, EdwardAdmiral Sir William Edward Parry KCB (1893–1970)	22 February 1950	13 October 1951	1 year, 233 days	Indian Navy
4		Cariappa, K MGeneral Kodandera Madappa Cariappa OBE (1899–1993)	14 October 1951	14 January 1953	1 year, 92 days	Indian Army
5		Pizey, CharlesAdmiral Sir Charles Thomas Mark Pizey KBE CB DSO* (1899–1993)	14 January 1953	22 July 1955	2 years, 189 days	Indian Navy
6		Mukerjee, SubrotoAir Marshal Subroto Mukerjee OBE (1911–1960)	22 July 1955	8 November 1960†	5 years, 109 days	Indian Air Force
7		Thimayya, K SGeneral Kodandera Subayya Thimayya DSO (1906–1965)	9 November 1960	7 May 1961	179 days	Indian Army
8		Katari, Ram DassVice Admiral Ram Dass Katari (1911–1983)	7 May 1961	4 June 1962	1 year, 28 days	Indian Navy
9		Engineer, AspyAir Marshal Aspy Marwan Engineer DFC (1912–2002)	4 June 1962	24 July 1964	2 years, 50 days	Indian Air Force
10		Soman, Bhaskar SadashivVice Admiral Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman (1913–1995)	24 July 1964	3 March 1966	1 year, 222 days	Indian Navy
11		Chaudhuri, Jayanto NathGeneral Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri OBE (1908–1983)	3 March 1966	7 June 1966	96 days	Indian Army
12		Singh, ArjanAir Chief Marshal Arjan Singh DFC (1919–2017)	8 June 1966	15 July 1969	3 years, 37 days	Indian Air Force
13		Chatterji, Adhar KumarAdmiral Adhar Kumar Chatterji (1914–2001)	15 July 1969	24 February 1970	224 days	Indian Navy
14		Manekshaw, SamField Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw MC (1914–2008)	24 February 1970	15 January 1973	2 years, 326 days	Indian Army
15		Bewoor, GopalGeneral Gopal Gurunath Bewoor PVSM (1916–1989)	15 January 1973	31 May 1975	2 years, 136 days	Indian Army
16		Mehra, Om PrakashAir Chief Marshal Om Prakash Mehra PVSM (1919–2015)	31 May 1975	31 January 1976	245 days	Indian Air Force
17		Kohli, Sourendra NathAdmiral Sourendra Nath Kohli PVSM (1916–2007)	31 January 1976	29 February 1976	2 years, 326 days	Indian Navy
18		Raina, TapishwarGeneral Tapishwar Narain Raina MVC (1921–1980)	29 February 1976	31 May 1978	2 years, 92 days	Indian Army
19		Moolgavkar, HrushikeshAir Chief Marshal Hrushikesh Moolgavkar PVSM, MVC (1920–2015)	1 June 1978	30 August 1978	90 days	Indian Air Force
20		Cursetji, JalAdmiral Jal Cursetji PVSM (1919–1991)	30 August 1978	1 March 1979	183 days	Indian Navy	.
21		Malhotra, Om PrakashGeneral Om Prakash Malhotra PVSM (1922–2015)	1 March 1979	31 May 1981	2 years, 91 days	Indian Army
22		Latif, IdrisAir Chief Marshal Idris Hasan Latif PVSM (1923–2018)	1 June 1981	30 August 1981	90 days	Indian Air Force
23		Pereira, RonaldAdmiral Ronald Lynsdale Pereira PVSM, AVSM (1923–1993)	1 September 1981	26 February 1982	178 days	Indian Navy
24		Rao, KrishnaGeneral Kotikalapudi Venkata Krishna Rao PVSM (1923–2016)	1 March 1982	31 July 1983	1 year, 152 days	Indian Army
25		Singh, DilbaghAir Chief Marshal Dilbagh Singh PVSM, AVSM, VM (1926–2001)	1 August 1983	5 September 1984	1 year, 35 days	Indian Air Force
26		Dawson, OscarAdmiral Oscar Stanley Dawson PVSM, AVSM (1923–2011)	5 September 1984	30 November 1984	86 days	Indian Navy
27		Vaidya, ArunGeneral Arun Shridhar Vaidya PVSM, MVC & Bar, AVSM (1926–1986)	1 December 1984	31 January 1986	1 year, 61 days	Indian Army
28		Tahiliani, RadhakrishnaAdmiral Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani PVSM, AVSM (1930–2015)	1 February 1986	30 November 1987	1 year, 302 days	Indian Navy
29		La Fontaine, DenisAir Chief Marshal Denis La Fontaine PVSM, AVSM, VSM (1929–2011)	1 December 1987	31 July 1988	182 days	Indian Air Force
30		Nadkarni, JayantAdmiral Jayant Ganpat Nadkarni PVSM, AVSM, NM, VSM (1931–2018)	1 August 1988	30 November 1990	2 years, 121 days	Indian Navy
31		Mehra, SurinderAir Chief Marshal Surinder Mehra PVSM, AVSM, VM (1932–2003)	1 December 1990	31 July 1991	242 days	Indian Air Force
32		Rodrigues, SunithGeneral Sunith Francis Rodrigues PVSM, VSM (1933–2022)	1 August 1991	30 June 1993	1 year, 333 days	Indian Army
33		Ramdas, LaxminarayanAdmiral Laxminarayan Ramdas PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM (1933–2024)	30 June 1993	30 September 1993	92 days	Indian Navy
34		Joshi, BipinGeneral Bipin Chandra Joshi PVSM, AVSM (1935–1994)	1 October 1993	18 November 1994†	1 year, 48 days	Indian Army	.
35		Kaul, SwaroopAir Chief Marshal Swaroop Krishna Kaul PVSM, MVC (born 1935)	20 November 1994	31 December 1995	1 year, 41 days	Indian Air Force
36		Shekhawat, Vijai SinghAdmiral Vijai Singh Shekhawat PVSM, AVSM, VrC (born 1933)	31 December 1995	30 September 1996	274 days	Indian Navy
37		Roychowdhury, ShankarGeneral Shankar Roychowdhury PVSM (born 1937)	1 October 1996	30 September 1997	364 days	Indian Army
38		Sareen, SatishAir Chief Marshal Satish Sareen PVSM, AVSM, VM (born 1939)	1 October 1997	31 December 1998	1 year, 91 days	Indian Air Force
39		Malik, VedGeneral Ved Prakash Malik PVSM, AVSM (born 1939)	1 January 1999	30 September 2000	1 year, 273 days	Indian Army
40		Kumar, SushilAdmiral Sushil Kumar PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, NM (1940–2019)	1 October 2000	29 December 2001	1 year, 89 days	Indian Navy
41		Padmanabhan, SundararajanGeneral Sundararajan Padmanabhan PVSM, AVSM, VSM (1940–2024)	30 December 2001	31 December 2002	1 year, 1 day	Indian Army
42		Singh, MadhvendraAdmiral Madhvendra Singh PVSM, AVSM	31 December 2002	31 July 2004	1 year, 213 days	Indian Navy
43		Krishnaswamy, SrinivasapuramAir Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy PVSM, AVSM, VM & bar (born 1943)	31 July 2004	29 December 2004	151 days	Indian Air Force
44		Vij, Nirmal ChanderGeneral Nirmal Chander Vij PVSM, UYSM, AVSM (born 1943)	30 December 2004	30 January 2005	31 days	Indian Army
45		Prakash, ArunAdmiral Arun Prakash PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM (born 1944)	31 January 2005	31 October 2006	1 year, 273 days	Indian Navy
46		Tyagi, Shashindra PalAir Chief Marshal Shashindra Pal Tyagi PVSM, AVSM, VM (born 1945)	31 October 2006	31 March 2007	151 days	Indian Air Force	.
47		Singh, Joginder JaswantGeneral Joginder Jaswant Singh PVSM, AVSM, VSM (born 1945)	31 March 2007	30 September 2007	183 days	Indian Army	.
48		Mehta, SureeshAdmiral Sureesh Mehta PVSM, AVSM (born 1947)	30 September 2007	31 August 2009	1 year, 335 days	Indian Navy	.
49		Kapoor, DeepakGeneral Deepak Kapoor PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM (born 1948)	31 August 2009	31 March 2010	212 days	Indian Army	.
50		Naik, PradeepAir Chief Marshal Pradeep Vasant Naik PVSM, VSM (born 1949)	31 March 2010	30 July 2011	1 year, 121 days	Indian Air Force
51		Naik, PradeepAdmiral Nirmal Kumar Verma PVSM, AVSM (born 1949)	30 July 2011	31 August 2012	1 year, 32 days	Indian Navy
52		Browne, NormanAir Chief Marshal Norman Anil Kumar Browne PVSM, AVSM, VM (born 1951)	31 August 2012	31 December 2013	1 year, 122 days	Indian Air Force	.
53		Singh, BikramGeneral Bikram Singh PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM (born 1951)	31 December 2013	31 July 2014	212 days	Indian Army
54		Raha, ArupAir Chief Marshal Arup Raha PVSM, AVSM, VM (born 1954)	31 July 2014	31 December 2016	2 years, 153 days	Indian Air Force	.
55		Raha, ArupAdmiral Sunil Lanba PVSM, AVSM (born 1957)	31 December 2016	31 May 2019	2 years, 151 days	Indian Navy
56		Dhanoa, Birender SinghAir Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa PVSM, AVSM, YSM, VM (born 1957)	31 May 2019	27 September 2019	119 days	Indian Air Force
57		Rawat, BipinGeneral Bipin Rawat PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, YSM, SM, VSM (1958–2021)	27 September 2019	8 December 2021†	2 years, 72 days	Indian Army
Vacant 8–15 December 2021
–		Naravane, Manoj MukundGeneral Manoj Mukund Naravane PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, ADC (born 1960) Acting	15 December 2021	30 April 2022	136 days	Indian Army
Vacant 30 April 2022 – 30 September 2022
58		Chauhan, AnilGeneral Anil Chauhan PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM (born 1961)	30 September 2022	Incumbent	2 years, 89 days	Indian Army

See also

Inter-service offices

• Chief of the Defence Staff
• Chief of Integrated Defence Staff

Other offices of the Indian Armed Forces

• Chief of the Army Staff
• Chief of the Naval Staff
• Chief of the Air Staff

International equivalents

• Pakistan: Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC)
• United Kingdom: Chiefs of Staff Committee (CSC)
• United States: Joint Chiefs of Staff (JSC)

Notes

1. Held temporarily until creation of post of Chief of the Defense Staff (CDS) on 1 January 2020, when Chairman COSC made permanent in tandem with CDS post.

References

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v t e Chief of Defence Staff of the Indian Armed Forces
Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (1947–2019)	Sir Rob Lockhart** Sir Thomas Elmhirst** Sir Edward Parry** K. M. Cariappa Sir Charles Pizey** Subroto Mukerjee Kodandera Subayya Thimayya Ram Dass Katari Aspy Engineer Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri Arjan Singh Adhar Kumar Chatterji Sam Manekshaw Gopal Gurunath Bewoor Om Prakash Mehra Sourendra Nath Kohli Tapishwar Narain Raina Hrushikesh Moolgavkar Jal Cursetji Om Prakash Malhotra Idris Hasan Latif Ronald Lynsdale Pereira K. V. Krishna Rao Dilbagh Singh Oscar Stanley Dawson Arun Shridhar Vaidya Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani Denis La Fontaine Jayant Ganpat Nadkarni Surinder Mehra Sunith Francis Rodrigues Laxminarayan Ramdas Bipin Chandra Joshi S. K. Kaul Vijai Singh Shekhawat Shankar Roychowdhury Satish Sareen Ved Prakash Malik Sushil Kumar Sundararajan Padmanabhan Madhvendra Singh Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy Nirmal Chander Vij Arun Prakash Shashindra Pal Tyagi Joginder Jaswant Singh Sureesh Mehta Deepak Kapoor Pradeep Vasant Naik Nirmal Kumar Verma Norman Anil Kumar Browne Bikram Singh Arup Raha Sunil Lanba Birender Singh Dhanoa Bipin Rawat
Chief of Defence Staff and Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (2020–2021)	Bipin Rawat
Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (2021–2022)	M. M. Naravane (acting)
Chief of Defence Staff and Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (2022–)	Anil Chauhan
(**Seconded from the British Armed Forces)

v t e Indian Armed Forces
Indian Army  Indian Navy  Indian Air Force
Leadership	President Prime Minister Minister of Defence Defence Secretary National Security Advisor Chief of Defence Staff (Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee) Chief of the Army Staff Chief of the Naval Staff Chief of the Air Staff Vice Chief of Defence Staff Director General Armed Forces Medical Services Serving generals Serving admirals Serving marshals
Organisation	Ministry and committees/councils Ministry of Defence Department of Military Affairs Department of Defence Research and Development Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare National Security Council Cabinet Committee on Security Standing Committee on Defence Defence Planning Committee Nuclear Command Authority Integrated Defence Staff Defence Intelligence Agency Commands Joint Integrated Theatre Commands Andaman and Nicobar Command Commander-in-Chief Strategic Forces Command Commander-in-Chief Northern Theatre Command (India) Western Theatre Command (India) Maritime Theatre Command Defence Cyber Agency Defence Space Agency Armed Forces Special Operations Division Army Central Command Eastern Command Northern Command Southern Command South Western Command Western Command Army Training Command Navy Western Naval Command Eastern Naval Command Southern Naval Command Air Force Central Air Command Eastern Air Command Southern Air Command South Western Air Command Western Air Command Training Command Maintenance Command Other components Indian Coast Guard National Cadet Corps Paramilitary forces Special forces Territorial Army Border Roads Organisation
Personnel	Military Academies Ranks and insignia Army Navy Air Force Coast Guard Border Roads Organisation Paramilitary forces Awards and Decorations
Operations	Wars Indo-Pakistani wars 1947–1948 1965 Battle of Asal Uttar Battle of Chawinda 1971 Naval War Air War Battle of Chamb Operation Trident Operation Cactus-Lilly Battle of Longewala Kargil War Sino-Indian War External conflicts Kashmir conflict Korean War Siachen conflict Indo-Pakistani border skirmishes Operation Parakram 2011 2013 2014–2015 2016–2018 2019 Balakot airstrike Congo Crisis Sino-Indian border skirmish 1987 Nathu La and Cho La clashes Doklam standoff 2020 Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War Operation Cactus Evacuation of Indian civilians from Kuwait Piracy off the coast of Somalia Operation Raahat Operation Devi Shakti Indo-Myanmar border strike Annexations Operation Polo (Hyderabad) Operation Vijay (Portuguese India - Goa, Damaon, Silvassa & Diu) Junagadh Dadra and Nagar Haveli Insurgencies Northeast India Punjab Operation Blue Star Operation Woodrose Kashmir Counter-insurgency operations LOC surgical strike
Equipment	Defence Research and Development Organisation Ordnance Factory Board Ballistic missiles Weapons of mass destruction Army List of equipment of the Indian Army Navy Active Ships Historical Ships Weapon Systems Future Air Force Active Aircraft Historical Aircraft Aircraft Squadrons Future
Documents	Indian Maritime Security Strategy
Other topics	President's fleet review History President's Colour Award Women in the Indian Armed Forces Armed Forces Flag Day Armed Forces Tribunal Indian Armed Forces rank flags Indian military bands National War Memorial Amar Jawan Jyoti
Category Army Navy Air Force

• Indian Army
• Indian Air Force
• Indian Navy
• Indian military appointments