The Centre has asked the top military leadership to resolve internal differences and expedite the modalities of the military reforms that envisage a strategic restructuring of the armed forces into integrated theatre commands (ITCs) to deal with security challenges and future wars, sources said on Wednesday.
The theaterisation plan has faced hurdles, including inter-service rivalry — specifically concerns from the air force about asset allocation. Sources said the chief of defence staff, General Anil Chauhan, who the Centre has tasked with establishing unified theatre commands, had held several meetings to iron out the differences.
“The government has asked the military brass to finalise the blueprint, which will be examined by the country’s top leadership before its implementation. The lessons learnt during Operation Sindoor will also be incorporated in the model of the planned theaterisation,” said a defence ministry official.
The critical reform, he said, is likely to enhance the defence forces’ joint operational capability to address evolving security challenges.
“The largest military restructuring seeks to replace 17 separate service commands with around five joint commands to address challenges from China and Pakistan,” the official said.
At present, the army, navy and the air force have separate commands.
In 2019, the Narendra Modi government came out with the ambitious theaterisation plan to combine the army, navy and the air force under a unified command to enhance efficiency and joint operations.
Sources say the plan is to have five theatre commands. Each will have units of the army, navy and the air force, and all of them will work as a single entity looking after specified geographical territories under an operational commander.
Major military powers, including the US, China, the UK and France, operate under theatre commands.
The IAF is believed to have flagged concerns, contending that the nature of its operations is so fluid that all of India is one theatre for it.
The air force is also said to have issues over who would lead particular theatres. Besides, there are fears that the senior positions would be taken up by the army, the largest among the three services.
The army brass, who are in favour of theaterisation, contend that multiple commands lead to confusion and cite the example of China, which has a single Western Theatre Command for the entire Indian frontier.
Last year, air force chief A.P. Singh had cautioned against rolling out tri-theatre commands in a hurry and instead proposed the setting up of a joint planning and coordination centre in Delhi comprising top military officers to ensure synergy between the services.