India is ready with a plan for theatre command and will conduct training for the same at the The Combined Operational Review and Evaluation (CORE) programme that will begin on Monday. The programme is being conducted by the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) and is being seen as a major step in advancing the long-awaited theaterisation reform.
Top government sources have told CNN-News18 that three theatre commands will handle operations. The Air Force, Army and Navy, each will get one theatre and the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) will head operations with these theatre commanders, who will be four star Generals.
Sources said that the Service Chiefs’ role will be restricted to raising, training and sustenance of the forces. Commanders and Core Commanders will be shifted to respective Theatre Commands for operations and will work with the Headquarters in Delhi.
Theatre Command: Concept Note, Idea and Execution
A theatre command is a specific geographical area where military operations are planned, coordinated, and executed under a single command. It helps ensuring better coordination between the Army, Navy and Air Force.
According to sources, the government wants to combine all forces into one. The idea is that when the country goes into conflict or at war, there is need for a unified command. “In such times, we want all energy and supplies to be utilised in one go and for planning also, we need a unified command system,” government sources said.
“In case we have a Western adversary, then we need a Western Command with Army, Navy and Air Force and for Northern Borders we need one command where all three forces are included and one is Maritime Theatre Command, which has a 5500-6000 Km spread. One area has also been given for coastal security and coastal combat,” sources added.
Sources said all three forces need simultaneous coordination and for that, it was required for India to match pace with the world which is also entering unified command.
Sources said the Northern Command is in flux right now because of conflict zones and no stability but that will also be distributed between Western and Northern Theatre Command.
The Western Theatre Command will be in Jaipur and will take care of conflicts related to Pakistan and will report to the Air Force Theatre Commander. On Northern borders against China, the Theatre Command will be stationed in Lucknow. It will be under the Army Theatre Commander. The Maritime and Theatre Command will function from Thiruvananthapuram and will report to the Navy Theatre Commander.
According to sources, these three theatre commanders will be four star Generals who will report to the CDS. All present Army Commanders and Corps will remain as they are and will report to theatre commanders.
Sources said the reservations that the Air Force had have been sorted out. The Air Force reportedly wanted to be independent and not part of the Theatre Command system. Their argument was to let air resources be available for the entire country and not for the command.
The government’s argument was clear that to make theatre, there was need for combined and unified command and that has been agreed upon.
According to sources, the Theatre Command will still take a long time to come into existence as this is at the Ministry of Defence level as of now. It needs clearances from the Prime Minister’s Office and finally, the CCS will take a final view.
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