Integrated Theatre Command (India)
The creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) in January 2020 was seen as a major push for the indigenous joint warfare and theaterisation process of the Indian Armed Forces.
[9][10] Indian Air Force opposed the formation of unified theatre commands citing limitation of resources.
[13] In the United States, during the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863, joint operations were seen in the actions of General Ulysses S. Grant and Admiral David D. Porter, who went on to leverage the combined power of the army and navy.
Despite the victory in the war major structural flaws were observed resulting in the creation of the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff as the principal military adviser in the United States.
This joint educational framework that brought officers together at different stages of their careers has been beneficial in increasing inter-service camaraderie.
[21][7] A Manohar Parrikar led Ministry of Defence appointed a committee of experts, chaired by Lt General (retd) DB Shekatkar, submitted its report in December 2016.
In June 2020, Lt Gen (Dr) Prakash Menon wrote that "The main aim of Theatre Commands is to facilitate integrated planning and coordinated application".
Integration is embodied across all functions; Operations, Intelligence, Technology Management, Perspective Plans, Logistics, and Human Resources Development (HRD).[...]
Beyond the Armed Forces, it also requires collaboration with the Diplomatic, Economic and Information instruments of the National Power, at all levels – strategic, operational and tactical.According to the former Chief of India's Army Staff Deepak Kapoor, who recommended theatre commands as early as the 1980s, "integration is a step ahead of jointness in ensuring a synergised approach to operations".
During the conference, the Defence Minister received the "detailed modalities" for the creation of Integrated Theatre Commands prepared by the Armed Forces Services.
The plans to set up four Joint Logistics Nodes (JLN) at Leh, Siliguri, Sulur and Prayagraj is to be proposed in addition to the ones at Mumbai, Guwahati and Port Blair which have already been established.
The theatre commanders will handle operational security, while the role of the service chiefs will be to strengthen other administrative functions of the Armed Forces.
[40][41][42] During the JCC meeting, a formal proposal for setting up three Integrated Theatre Commands (ITC) was submitted.
The transition to the ‘one border, one force’ concept from a service-specific command shall be the largest military reform in India since independence.
The concept of ITCs was developed under the leadership of Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan for 20 months.
[42] On 23 October 2024, Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi announced during a press conference that the formal proposal for the Theatre Commands are at a "mature" stage and is ready to be sent to the Government for decision-making.
[43] On 1 January 2024, it was reported that the Defence Ministry has recognised 2025 as the "Year of Reforms" ans the primary objective would be the roll-out of the theatre commands, development of domains like cyber security and space, and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, hypersonic and robotics.
[46] During the Monsoon Session of 2023, Parliament of India passed the Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control & Discipline) Act, 2023.
With the notification, the Act will empower the Heads of ISOs and pave the way for expeditious disposal of cases, avoid multiple proceedings and will be a step towards greater integration & jointness among the Armed Forces personnel."
“All such missiles and rocket systems of the Army, Navy and IAF will be integrated under the IRF for better command and control.
"[59] Air Marshal Narayan Menon writes that Integrated Theatre Commands work for United States, Russia and China is because militarily they are countries which are self-sufficient while "India is in a completely different and subordinate class" in terms of military expenditure and "shortages in personnel, equipment and firepower" in all three of the services.
[60] Maj Gen (Retd) SB Asthana notes that the idea of Integrated Theatre Commands in India "seems to be driven more by economic considerations and less by operational inadequacies".
[61] Air Commodore (Retd) Jasjit Singh also commented that theatre commands are generally used for foreign operations, and India has no need for such a force.
Air Commodore Singh also argued that the specialisation that the current framework allows may be lost with unified commands and that if the services couldn't work together now, under the theatre process the situation may be worse.
