Theatre Commands: Is India on the Right Path? The Questions That Remain

The Indian armed forces may get the biggest re-organisation since independence if the proposition of creating theatre commands is finalised. Essentially, theatre command is a unified command under which resources of all three armed forces – army, air force, and navy – are integrated depending upon the threat or location. It has been the top agenda of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat since his appointment in January 2020. However, the road has been bumpy since the announcement was made because not all services seem to be on board, especially the Indian Air Force, which has reportedly stated in the past that the implementation will be operationally unwise, given the limited air assets of the force. Adding to the IAF’s hesitation for the formation of theatre commands was General Rawat’s recent comment on the Indian Air Force “being a supporting arm to the armed forces just like the artillery and engineers in the Army.” Aside from the hesitations expressed by the IAF, there are several institutional questions about theatre commands that need further clarity. For instance, what would the structure of the commands be like, who will report to whom, and of course there is a fundamental debate on whether India requires this move. Host and Producer: Himmat Shaligram Guest: Lt Gen Kamal Davar, former Deputy Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff and the first Chief of India's Defence Intelligence Agency Editor: Shelly Walia References: The Creation of Indian Integrated Commands: Organisational Learning and the Andaman and Nicobar Command Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur To look at these questions, we spoke to former Deputy Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff and the first Chief of India's Defence Intelligence Agency Lt Gen Kamal Davar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices