[5] Customarily held by a three-star officer nominated from either of India’s three armed services, the CISC is the second-highest authority responsible for inter-service jointness, subordinate only to the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).

[6] By function, the CISC is the executive-in-charge of the IDS, and thus, maintains oversight over inter-service coordination on crucial disciplines related to military functioning, specifically, intelligence, doctrine, joint planning, budgetary allocations and training.

[1] In addition, the CISC serves as a non-voting member of the Chiefs of Staff Committee - of which the CDS is its Chairman; thus by definition, the CISC reports to the CDS, who is the final authority on military jointness.

[7][8] The CISC is a Three-star rank officer from the three Services in rotation.

He is assisted by the following five Principal Staff Officers (all three-star appointments) who head the various branches within the IDS.