New chief of defence staff (CDS) Lieutenant-General (retd) N.S. Raja Subramani has his work cut out for him.
His immediate challenge is to iron out differences and bring the tri-services on the same page on the long-delayed military reform — strategic restructuring of the armed forces into integrated theatre commands (ITCs) — to deal with security challenges and future wars, defence ministry sources said.
“Fast-tracking theaterisation of the defence forces will be the first and immediate challenge for him. The proposed plan has faced hurdles, including inter-service rivalry, specifically concerns from the air force about asset allocation,” a defence ministry official told The Telegraph.
The critical reform, he said, is likely to enhance the joint operational capability of India’s defence forces to address evolving security challenges from China and Pakistan. “It remains to be seen how Subramani brings the tri-forces on board as he has been tasked with a mandate to implement the ambitious theaterisation plan that seeks to ensure tri-service synergy and prepare the military for future security challenges,” the official said.
Subramani will assume office on May 30, succeeding General Anil Chauhan.
Last month, the Centre had asked the country’s top military leadership to resolve internal differences and expedite the modalities of the much-awaited ambitious military reform. The outgoing CDS General Chauhan is said to have submitted a draft proposal to advance theaterisation to defence minister Rajnath Singh.
Sources said General Chauhan had held several meetings with the tri-services chiefs to iron out differences.
“The government is currently examining the proposal. The lessons learnt during Operation Sindoor were also incorporated into the model of the planned theaterisation,” said an official at the army headquarters. India, he said, faces the possibility of handling simultaneous challenges from both China and Pakistan.
“Theaterisation is the need of the hour to deal with external security challenges on the two fronts. Future wars will depend heavily on speed, coordination, and the ability to operate seamlessly across multiple domains — land, air, sea,” he said.
The largest military restructuring seeks to replace 17 separate service commands with 3-5 joint commands to address challenges from China and Pakistan, the official said. The move is aimed at unifying army, navy and air force assets under a single commander for improved operational efficiency and joint warfighting.
At present, the army, navy and air force have separate commands — seven under the army, seven under the air force, and three under the navy. Most of these commands are independent of each other and follow separate operational structures.
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 force is also said to have issues over who would lead particular theatres. Besides, there are differences amid fears that the senior positions would be taken over 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 have cited the example of China, which has a single Western Theatre Command for the entire Indian frontier.
Last year, Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh had cautioned against rolling out tri-threatre commands in a hurry and instead proposed the setting up of a joint planning and coordination centre in Delhi comprising top military brass to ensure tri-services synergy. He also underlined that India should not be inspired by any other country, like the US, in rolling out theatre commands.
In 2019, the Narendra Modi government had come out with the ambitious theaterisation plan to combine the army, navy and air force under unified command to enhance efficiency and joint operations.
Sources said the plan was to have 3-5 theatre commands. Each will have units of the army, navy and air force, and all of them will work as a single entity looking after specified geographical territories under an operational commander.