Pakistan, May 10 -- Lt Gen N S Raja Subramani's appointment as India's next Chief of Defence Staff belongs to a pattern that has hardened since 2016, in which the language of merit has increasingly sat beside political preference and ideological comfort inside New Delhi's highest military appointments.

Subramani served as the vice chief of the army staff from July 2024 to July 2025, retired on July 31, and was then moved to the National Security Council Secretariat as military adviser in September. Barely months later, he was named to replace Gen Anil Chauhan as CDS when Chauhan completes his extended tenure on May 30, 2026. He has been serving in the national security system under Ajit Doval, and his predecessor followed the same route....