“The proposed theatre commands will lay the foundation for catapulting the armed forces into the next level of military preparedness and war fighting”, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan said on May 21 during Maj Gen Samir Sinha memorial lecture in New Delhi.
His comments came as India looks at implementing the ambitious and long-awaited theaterisation plan.
Developing joint culture in the armed faces would be “jointness 2.0” which is the way forward, the Chief of Defence Staff said delivering the Maj Gen Samir Sinha Memorial Lecture.
He said “jointness 1.0” was about better bonhomie and consensus among the services, and as there were no major differences, there is an impetus to move towards the next level which is “jointness 2.0”. Acknowledging the distinct culture of all the three services, Gen Chauhan underscored that there was a need to create a fourth culture in the services.
In his address, the Chief of Defence Staff termed jointness and integration as pre-requisites to the creation of functional integrated theatre commands, and explained the significance of such commands.
“The creation of such commands will separate the ‘operational’ functions from the Raise-Train-Sustain (RTS) and other administrative functions, and will allow greater focus of the operational commander to matters of security,” he said.
Understanding the theaterisation plan
Under the theaterisation model, the government seeks to integrate the capabilities of the army, air force and navy and optimally utilise their resources for wars and operations. According to the theaterisation plan, each of the theatre commands will have units of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force and all of them will work as a single entity looking after security challenges in a specified geographical territory.
At present, the Army, Navy and the Air Force have separate commands. The theatre commands are being planned to integrate the capabilities of the three services and to ensure optimal utilisation of their resources. The Army, Navy and IAF must also create a `joint culture’ as they move towards forming the integrated operational structures.
Currently, the Army and the IAF have seven commands each while the Navy has three. In addition, there are two tri-service commands – the Andaman and Nicobar Command and the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) – apart from the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS).
Armed Forces’ integrated commands structure plan looks at Vice CDS, Dy CDS with clear roles. Jaipur, Lucknow, Coimbatore likely homes for theatre commands.
Theatre commands refer to the smaller formations and units under the larger command structure of the Indian military. These smaller units are responsible for specific tasks and operations and work closely with other units to execute larger missions. By implementing theatre commands, the Indian military aims to improve its overall preparedness and ability to respond to threats.