Theatre commands are irreversible, CDS Chauhan tells the military
After Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed the Indian military commanders to push for integration and operational synergy on April 1 at the Combined Commanders’ Conference (CCC) in Bhopal, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Anil Chauhan has decided to personally instil PM’s message as part of major military transformative changes ahead.
To pass on PM’s directive and push for military theatre commands, Gen Anil Chauhan landed at the Southern Army Command headquarters in Pune today after visiting the Western Naval Command and the Mazagon Dockyards Limited (MDL) the previous days. It is understood that Gen Chauhan’s task of joint-man-ship and integration is work in progress with the three-armed services with theatre command and joint operations to be completed in the next two years.
After PM Modi’s directive, Gen Chauhan visited the Eastern Army Command in Kolkata and Central Army Command in Lucknow in the first week of April while reviewing military preparedness in the sensitive Siliguri corridor and at the Hashimara air base, which houses the latest French Rafale fighters.
It is learnt that Gen Chauhan will visit all the 18 military commands in the country to make it clear that military theatre commands is an irreversible process on the path of military transformation.
While the deliberations at the CCC in Bhopal were held behind closed doors, PM Modi gave a clear message of integration among the three services to avoid duplication in logistics, weapons procurement, and war fighting. The PM said that the armed forces should contribute towards national development in peacetime while remaining prepared for the worst-case scenario on Indian borders.
It is learnt that PM Modi asked the forces to avoid wasteful expenditure by having separate messes and separate arrangements for rest and recreation of troops and Agniveers. Another central message was that the future lies in creation of military theatre commands and developing India’s military-civilian industrial complex through “Atamanirbhar Bharat.”
While the CDS is also seeking the views of commands on the transformative changes, he is also reviewing military preparedness of the Indian armed forces in the context of rising China on land borders as well as in the Indian Ocean. Specific instructions have been imparted to the military commanders in the Eastern Command to secure the Siliguri corridor by keeping a note of Chinese activities across the LAC. Similar instructions have been issued to Southern Army Command in the context of western borders with Pakistan.