Indian Military To Get Its First Theatre Command By August This Year; Here's What We Know So Far

In a historic move for the Indian Armed Forces, the country is likely to get its first integrated theatre command (ITC) in August, and preparations for the roll-out are in the advanced stage.

According to a report by the New Indian Express, the Jaipur-based South-Western Command will be the first theatre command, and an announcement could be made on the Independence Day (15 August).

Earlier, it was reported that all the three services — the Indian Army, Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy — are onboard with the proposed plan by Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Anil Chauhan.

Under this plan, India is supposed to establish three integrated theatre commands, with the land-based commands being adversary specific, one focused on Pakistan and the other on China, while the third theatre command will be maritime specific, primarily responsible for handling the Indian Ocean Region.

Until now, the three forces had a total of 17 independent commands combined, with seven for the Army and Air Force each, and three for the Navy.

The Jaipur-based Western ITC will be responsible for handling Pakistan, while the Lucknow-based central command will be the Northern ITC responsible for handling China.

According to the report, the Jaipur-based Western ITC will be a test-bed for the subsequent two commands.

It will be used to iron out teething issues after which Lucknow-based Northern ITC will be rolled out. The Karwar-based maritime ITC will be the last to be rolled out.

With the roll-out of the ITCs in advanced stages, search for the officer — to be the first theatre commander — is underway as well, and according to the report, if the government selects the commander on seniority basis than the Eastern Army Commander Lieutenant General R P Kalita is on the top of the list.

However, if the commander is selected on the basis of continuity of service from the same place, the South-Western Army Commander Lieutenant General B S Raju is on the top of the list.

All the theatre commanders will be four-star rank officers making them equivalent in rank to the Chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force, with the CDS commanding all six.

Earlier, it was thought that the theatre commanders will be three-star officers (Lt Generals, Vice Admirals and Air Marshals), raising seniority concerns between the service chiefs and theatre commanders.

The Indian Air Force (IAF), also had issues with the proposed old structures of the theatre commands which talked about the division of fighter assets between each of the theatre command, but these issues have now been resolved.

It was deemed operationally unwise to divide the limited air assets, especially considering that the force currently has just 31 fighter squadrons, despite being authorised for 42.

Another proposal — creation of an Air Defence Command (ADC) has also been discarded following strong arguments from the IAF. 

The IAF emphasised that a standalone ADC would be counter-productive since "air defence" and "offensive air missions" were interdependent and could not be carried out in isolation during conflicts.

Additionally, apart from the junior officers of Major and Lieutenant Colonel ranks, senior officers of Major General, Brigadier and equivalent ranks will also be cross posted within services.

Previously, senior military officers were assigned to tri-service organisations, but inter-service postings were not typically carried out.

The decision to cross-post officers aligns with the objective of integrating the three services and establishing theatre commands.