A proposal is with the defence ministry to set up a China-focused Northern Theatre Command in Lucknow, a Pakistan-centric Western Theatre Command in Jaipur and a Maritime Theatre Command in Thiruvananthapuram, aligning with the 'one border, one force' concept

New Delhi: Last week, the Indian military held its first Joint Commanders’ Conference, which saw the three services stress on the need for a unified vision to enhance military integration and synergy and a roadmap being set for the creation of Integrated Theatre Commands (ITCs).

A proposal is now with the ministry of defence to establish a China-focused Northern Theatre Command in Lucknow, a Pakistan-centric Western Theatre Command in Jaipur and a Maritime Theatre Command in Thiruvananthapuram. If approved, this would mark the biggest military reform in India since independence, aligning with the ‘one border, one force’ concept.

The office of the chief of defence staff General Anil Chauhan, who has been working on the ITC modalities for the past 20 months, believes it will take nearly two years to fully implement the plan on the ground after receiving the government’s nod.

The proposed ITCs will combine units from the Indian Army, Indian Navy and Indian Air Force under one commander, the goal being to make the armed forces more efficient during emergencies and conflicts by integrating personnel, assets, infrastructure and logistics of the three military services.

A top army commander, who attended the Joint Commanders’ Conference held in Lucknow on September 4-5, said the primary objective of the conference was to present the progress made in the efforts to introduce far-reaching reforms in India’s higher defence management. Several key points, including the ITC roadmap, were brought to the table for discussions.

The ITC plan will require accretion as well as rebalancing of manpower for setting up cyber, space and underwater sub-commands. Besides, from the physical movement of assets to the appointment of a four-star-ranked officer as the commander-in-chief of the ITCs, several sticking points remain to be worked out.

A defence ministry official claimed that while the three proposed theatre commanders will be four-star-ranked officers, like the chief of defence staff and the three service chiefs, who rank above the secretaries to the Union government, it is also recommended to have another four-star officer as the vice-chief of defence staff. It remains to be seen how a bureaucracy-driven government will accept a top-heavy Indian military with eight four-star-ranked officers.

Another senior defence ministry official aware of the developments stated that since all three theatre commanders will have ‘operational’ roles, they must be on a par with the service chiefs for decision-making. While theatre commanders will handle operational security, the role of the service chiefs will be limited to raise-train-sustain and other administrative functions. The model mirrors the US Unified Combatant Commands, where theatre commanders have full control over operational security.

It is also recommended that while the army and air force will rotate the post of theatre commanders of the Northern Theatre Command and Western Theatre Command—their tenure is expected to be 18 months—the navy will continue to head the Maritime Command. So, the air force, despite being smaller sized than the army, will get an equal say in operational matters. The air force had been against the concept of theatre commands and a separate air defence command, as was conceptualised by the late Gen. Bipin Rawat, India’s first chief of defence staff.

The plan is to have the Western Theatre Command from Indira Col on Saltoro Ridge in the Siachen Glacier till Gujarat, with its expected headquarters in Jaipur. The Northern Theatre Command will cover the entire 3,488 kilometres of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), India’s de facto border with China, starting from the Himalayan heights of Ladakh and extending all the way to Kibithu in Arunachal Pradesh. Its headquarters are expected to be in Lucknow. The Maritime Command, based in Thiruvananthapuram, will be responsible for India’s 7,516 km-long coastline.

At present, the three military services function with 17 independent commands: the army and air force have seven commands each and the navy three. Major military powers, including the US, United Kingdom, Russia, China and France, operate under theatre commands.

Gen. Chauhan recently stated that theatre commands would not be the end state, rather only the beginning of the next set of military reforms. It means ITCs would lead to several reforms, such as the military moving from single to multi-domain operations, fusing space and cyberspace into the traditional domains, digitisation of battlefield information and visualisation, and net-centric and data-centric operations.

Back in 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day speech, had announced that India will have its first chief of defence staff—the topmost uniformed officer of the nation—with the task of bringing jointness and integrating operations of the three armed forces in sync with the changing nature of war and security in the world.

In January 2020, Gen. Rawat was appointed the first chief of defence staff and the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) created under his office. Thereafter, to promote jointness in procurement, training and staffing for the services, the Union government brought in the Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control & Discipline) Act, 2023 to give the concept legal and constitutional powers.

As of now, only two integrated tri-service commands exist—the Andaman and Nicobar Command, looking after South East Asia and the South China Sea, and the Strategic Forces Command, which controls India’s nuclear weapons.

Also, Gen. Chauhan has unveiled a joint doctrine for amphibious operations, which empowers the armed forces to conduct a multitude of operations in the Indian Ocean Region, both during war and peace. It came three months after the Indian military came out with its joint doctrine for cyberspace operations aimed at guiding military commanders in conducting cyberspace operations.

(With Inputs From Agencies)