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Josy Joseph in New Delhi
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee cleared on Friday the appointment of Lieutenant General Pankaj Joshi as the country's first chief of integrated staff, an interim arrangement to look after the integration of the defence services under the proposed chief of defence staff.
He also sanctioned the creation of a unified theatre command for the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. This will be the country's first such command where the army, navy, air force and Coast Guard will operate together under a single commander.
"The CIS will remain the interim arrangement to oversee the integration of the armed forces until the chief of defence staff is appointed," sources in the defence ministry said.
Gen Joshi will officially be designated chief of integrated staff of the chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee. His post will be equivalent in rank to the proposed vice-chief of defence staff.
Gen Joshi takes charge of his new office from October 1. He will report to naval chief Admiral Sushil Kumar, the current chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.
Vice-Admiral Arun Prakash, chief of personnel of the navy, has been appointed the first commander-in-chief of the unified Andamans theatre command, which becomes operational on October 8.
His deputy will be a major general from the army. The command will function under the overall operational control of the chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.
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