CDS Gen Rawat to Meet All Stakeholders to Resolve Theatre Command Issues

Editor Indian Army

New Delhi: In their presentation to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh earlier this month, the Indian Air Force had flagged the issues of its assets’ divisions while the MHA had concerns about the operational command of the Central Armed Police Forces

 

To iron out issues pertaining to the structure of Theatre Commands, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat will be meeting all stakeholders.

During the meeting, it is expected that the matters raised by the home ministry and Indian Air Force earlier this month will be discussed.

 

“CDS will head the meeting, wherein the Vice Chiefs’ committee, representatives of Department of Defence, Ministry of Home Affairs and National Security Council Secretariat will also participate to resolve the differences,” a source said.

 

In their presentation to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the Indian Air Force had flagged the issues of its assets’ divisions while the MHA had concerns about the operational command of the Central Armed Police Forces.

 

Aiming to maximum and effective utilisations of the armed forces platforms, their war-fighting structures are being reorganised into theatre commands, where the commander will be responsible for all sorts of operations under his command.

There are five theatre commands which are under consideration. These include the Northern Command, the Western Command, the Eastern Command, the Air Defence Theatre Command and the Maritime Theatre Command.

The Northern Command would be comprising of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh region. Currently, there are 17 commands in the country, including seven each of the Army and the Air Force and three of the Navy.

In 2019, the government had formed the Department of Military Affairs with CDS Gen Rawat as its secretary, giving him the mandate to formulate theatre commands along with the integration and synergy of the armed forces.

The mandate of the Department of Military Affairs includes the facilitation of restructuring of Military Commands for optimal utilisation of resources by bringing about jointness in operations.