[2][3] NSA Ajit Doval chaired the committee's first meeting on 3 May 2018, which was attended by the three chiefs of staff, and defence, foreign and expenditure secretaries.
According to the notification issued by Indian Government the DPC will have several mandates namely to[5] Four sub-committees on: policy and strategy, plans and capability development, defence diplomacy and defence manufacturing ecosystem come under the DPC; the terms of reference and membership of the sub-committees are finalised separately.
[5] Former Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy—who was a part of the Naresh Chandra task-force—praised the move, calling it "an outstanding move";[9] but, criticised the government's decision to not include the Defence Production Secretary and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) chairperson in the committee, dubbing them "key players" in the government's flagship Make in India initiative.
[9] Amit Cowshish, a former Financial Adviser (Acquisition) in the Ministry of Defence, criticised the committee's "wide mandate", calling it an obstacle from "swift reform".
[10] Mohinder Puri, a former deputy chief of the army, praised the government's decision, saying, "on the face of it, the DPC looks good, as it takes the overall view of national and international security".