New Delhi: There will be more delay in creating theatre commands – bringing all forces of the military under a single commander for a specific geographical area – reported The Tribune on April 22.
The delay is because the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Anil Chauhan, has to get a wider consensus on this and has been asked to adopt a “bottom upwards approach”, The Tribune reported.
‘Bottom upwards approach’
Theatre commands are a war strategy in which the organisational structure is designed to bring all arms of the military under a single command. India aims to bring all its nearly 20 individual commands – across the Army, Air Force and Navy – into four or five unified or theatre commands, The Print had reported in 2021. Per news reports, past discussions have also focused on creating specific theatre commands, including two for the Himalayas along the Line of Actual Control with China, one for a maritime role, one for air defence and one for the western front.
The issue of theatre commands was discussed recently at the combined commanders’ conference at Bhopal from March 30 to April 1, The Tribune reported, quoting unnamed sources.
On April 1, the Ministry of Defence issued a statement saying that “deliberations over a varied spectrum of issues were held, including on national security and evolving a joint military vision for the future” and Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the commanders, the report said. The PM said that ‘integration’ was needed and flagged immediate common tri-services’ issues like logistics, weapon procurement, communications, etc, of the three forces, the sources told The Tribune.
At the conference, there was a lack of consensus on the structure of the theatre commands, its contours and operational strategy, sources told The Tribune.
Serving CDS General Anil Chauhan was asked to adopt a “bottom upwards” approach by first integrating logistics, weapons procurement, support systems, transport and communication, and then move on to theatre commands, the news article said. The idea is to “first integrate the immediate achievable tasks like having joint logistics, maintenance and support systems”, per their sources.
Long delay
In January 2020, the then CDS General Bipin Rawat was tasked with several tasks, including the implementation of theatre commands, within three years.
The three-year deadline now stands extended with the current CDS General Chauhan being asked to go in for a “bottom upwards approach”, as The Tribune reported.
News about the delay had already emerged by June 2021. The Print reported that the delay then was because all stakeholders, including the three Services, “are not on the same page when it comes to its basic structure” of the theatre commands.
The CDS and the three services chiefs had conducted a detailed discussion on the proposed commands on October 22 in Pune, the Hindustan Times had reported. While the Army and Navy are prepared for the exercise, the Indian Air Force has “legitimate concerns over splitting its limited air assets among the respective theatres”, said the news article in November last year.