THEATRES OF CONTENTION

THE GOVERNMENT IS KEEN ON THE THEATRISATION OF INDIA'S ARMED FORCES, BUT DOUBTS EXPRESSED BY THE IAF CHIEF REFLECT CONCERNS ABOUT THE PREPARATION FOR AND ROLLING OUT OF JOINT SERVICE COMMANDS

- PRADIP R. SAGAR

INDIA'S TOP MILITARY LEADERSHIP CAME TOGETHER for the first Combined Commanders' Conference since Operation Sindoor from September 15-17 at Fort William (now Vijay Durg), the Indian Army's Eastern Command headquarters in Kolkata. The presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan and the three service chiefs underscored the significance of the event.

For many, the stage was set for a grand announcement of the creation of Integrated Theatre Commands (ITCs)—that holy grail of transformative reform in the Indian military.

Events had built up to this point satisfactorily. In April 2024, Gen. Chauhan had submitted a proposal to the defence minister, laying out the plan to roll out the theatre commands, claiming that all three service chiefs had reached a consensus following months of dialogue. In September 2024, India had hosted its first Joint Commanders' Conference, where the army, navy and air force all appeared to rally behind the vision of a unified war-fighting structure in line with the One Border, One Force concept. A momentum seemed to have built up...till the Indian Air Force chief, Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh, voiced his opposition to theatrisation in a public forum late last month.