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A renewed push for theatre commands

Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan said that while the three branches of the armed forces are well-trained and excel in their jobs, they are also protective of their turfs

4 min read
Updated On: May 13 2026 | 12:33 PM IST
Satarupa Bhattacharjya
Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan

Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan. Photo: PTI

On the sidelines of this year’s Ran Samwad (“war dialogue”), the annual tri-service conclave that started last year, Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan said he has tried to convince the rank and file about the importance of jointness in modern warfighting. He told a strategic affairs analyst during a streamed conversation that while the three branches of the armed forces are well-trained and excel in their jobs, they are also protective of their turfs, but that would likely change because they are equally keen to win future wars.
The comments assume significance amid a renewed push to create integrated theatre commands. Especially since the chief of defence staff (CDS) post was announced in 2019, some inside and outside military circles have spoken in favour of a unified structure that will place resources of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force under commanders for specific geographical areas in the country. But even today some from within the services don’t see the need for change because they argue India has fought all its wars over the past 79 years without theatre commands. Most of those wars have been with Pakistan. 
After the Kargil War in 1999, a review committee was formed that recommended, among other actions, the creation of a CDS position and integrated commands. 
The United States has 11 commands, categorised by geographic regions (including far away) and functions. The People’s Liberation Army, as China’s armed forces are jointly called, operates with five theatre commands.  

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During his keynote address at Ran Samwad, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, said the move towards joint structures and theatre commands in India, “with (the) planning now reported to be 90 per cent complete”, is a historic opportunity. 
“But let us be clear, structures alone do not guarantee synergy.” A culture of trust does. 
If the change comes about (it is likely to be a political announcement rather than military), India’s 17 single-service commands could be consolidated into a handful of theatre commands. At present, the Army and the Air Force have seven commands each and the Navy has three, all located in different places. The theatre commanders would have to be of a high rank and the reform would entail changing the existing services hierarchy.   
India needs military theatres in today’s conflict-ridden world to ensure economy of force — the use of minimum necessary combat power to achieve objectives, Colonel Rajneesh Singh (retired), research fellow, Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, a New Delhi-based think tank, said.  
This year’s conclave held at the Air Force Training Command in Bengaluru over April 9-10, ahead of the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor, India’s military reprisal for a deadly terrorist attack in India that the government said had links to Pakistan, in May, focused on multidomain warfare and “conventional and irregular threats”. The first Ran Samwad was held at the Army War College in Madhya Pradesh last year when joint doctrines and technology — information warfare and grey-zone operations — were discussed. Next year’s conclave, to be hosted by the Navy, will discuss “high-intensity operations in a transparent and expanded battlespace”. 
While speaking at this year’s conclave, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh Tripathi said navies have always operated across domains, extending from the subsea and the surface of water to air and space, and are increasingly leveraging electromagnetic, cyber and cognitive domains for outcomes. 
“What has changed, however, is the character of this maritime battlespace that today can be visualised as a dense-yet-more transparent, layered-yet-deeply interconnected grid, extending from the seabed to (the) space domain.”
Tripathi said linear kill chains (a military framework of attack) have given way to “networked kill webs”, which in turn is forcing both crewed and uncrewed naval assets to become more lethal. 
Chauhan said at the conclave’s closing that multidomain operations require convergence across the physical, the synthetic and the cognitive realms. He emphasised faster and smarter decision-making in an artificial intelligence-driven battlespace. 
“The focus has now shifted from coordination to true integration among the defence forces.” 
 
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Written By :

Satarupa Bhattacharjya

Satarupa Bhattacharjya is a journalist with 25 years of work experience in India, China and Sri Lanka. She covered politics, government and policy in the past. Now, she writes on defence and geopolitics.
First Published: May 10 2026 | 8:31 AM IST

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