India is switching to theater commands, here’s all you need to know

What led to the introduction of Theater commands? When the performance of the Armed Forces in the Kargil War was evaluated, it was observed that the communication between the three services- Army, Navy and Air Force was weak and more jointness between the three services would have resulted in an easier victory. Talks of restructuring have come up many times but solid action was never taken. Whenever we imagine war, we think about continuous mass destruction and frankly, this was the case until a few years ago, but if a war were to take place in the coming time, it would be swift and more detrimental. In a war like this, lack of communication could end up being very fatal.

The government realized this, so when General Bipin Rawat was made the Chief of the Defense Staff, the mandate from the government was very clear, more synergy and communication was needed between the Armed Forces. According to the government, the most effective way to do this was to restructure the armed forces into theater commands. What are theater commands? The concept of theater commands has been adopted by many superpowers in the past few decades including China and the United States and it worked out well for them. The question is, what are theater commands? Theater commands are geographical units of the armed forces where all the assets from the three services are controlled under one command headed by one commander. Let us take an example. A specific case of China Let us assume that the government decides to make a theater command for the Indian Ocean region called the Peninsular Command. The Indian Ocean region holds great importance for India as India has held complete naval dominance in this area for quite a long time and in case of a war with China, the battleground for the navies will be this Ocean and the South China Sea.

The expansionist ideology of China is a threat to our dominance. Due to China being a threat, many other global powers including the United States and the European Union deployed their naval vessels in this region. This area also holds an important strategic advantage for India. Oil, which is arguably, the most important resource in a war after manpower and weapons, reaches China through the Indian ocean as China receives oil from only one part of the world, the Middle East. If we can block the oil supply, there will be better chances of a victory. Also, the best chance India has of stopping the ‘belt and road initiative’ will be this command.

Therefore, protecting this region is the utmost priority for the Indian Navy. In case an escalation takes place in this region, the Navy should have untethered access to all resources of the Army and Air Force including nuclear weapons and fighter jets. This why restructuring is important. A different angle The government chose theater commands also because it is a common perception in the public that only the Army carries out major operations and the government wants to change that perception. The CDS (Chief of Defence Staff) told NEWS 18 that this restructuring will ensure that the modernization of the Armed Forces is not a lopsided modernization where one service is trying to get ahead of another service. Some major questions 1. What will be the criteria for becoming a theater commander?

The person needs to be a 3-star officer and needs to have good strategic knowledge of the region.

2. Which service will the commanding officer be from?

It depends entirely on the location of the theater command. If it is an area where the army holds more importance, then an army officer will head the command. 3. How many theater commands will there be?

For now, we are being told that the Air Force and Navy will get one command each. The Air Force command will be based out of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh and the Naval command will be based out of Karwar In Karnataka.

4. How many commands will the army get?

That is still up for debate. It could be 2 commands for China and 1 for Pakistan or it could be 3 commands for China and 2 for Pakistan. Matters of concern The biggest problem that the past few administrations faced was the money factor. We cannot deny that the government is a little low on money. Less than 2% of India’s GDP is given to defense and more than half of that goes into paying pensions. The CDS says, that for now, no new infrastructure will be created for these commands. In fact, a counterargument is, you can save money in theater commands because the resources are used wisely and more effectively.

Whom will these theater commanders report to? Initially, we are being told that all the commanding officers will report to their respective service chiefs but as the process is in place, all the commanding officers will report to the CDS . Are you smelling a turf war? you are bang on.