Article Posted on : - Sep 09, 2021

NEW DELHI (PTI):  The setting up of the proposed theatre commands may take two to three years as key structural changes will have to be made for their creation, people familiar with the developments have said.

They said  on Wednesday senior military officers from the Army, the Navy and the Indian Air Force have been tasked to carry forward the process in finalising new structures.

As per the plan, each of the theatre commands will have units of the Army, the Navy and the Air Force and all of them will work as a single entity looking after security challenges in a specified geographical territory under an operational commander.

At present, the Army, the Navy and the Air Force have separate commands.

Initially, a plan has been firmed up for the creation of the Air Defence Command and Maritime Theatre Command.

The theatre commands are being planned to integrate the capabilities of the three services and to ensure optimal utilisation of their resources.

"The creation of the proposed theatre commands may take two to three years," said one of the people cited above.

The people said the officers tasked to carry forward the ambitious plan to set up the theatre commands are expected to submit detailed reports on various operational aspects of the new structures.

Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat has been working on the theaterisation model under which at least six new integrated commands are being envisaged.

The theatre commands are being set up under a larger mandate of ensuring synergy among the three service chiefs to deal with future security challenges.

Gen Rawat took over as India's first CDS on January 1, 2020, with a mandate to bring in convergence among the three services and restructure military commands to effectively deal with future security challenges.