Expert panel to fine tune ‘military theaterisation plan’
- Posted By
10Pointer
- Categories
Polity & Governance
- Published
21st Jun, 2021
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Context
In a latest development, a high-level committee consisting has been formed for wider consultations on the creation of the integrated tri-service commands.
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Background
- The decision was taken in meeting after several issues were brought out which concerns other Ministries.
- The committee will examine all issues and find a way forward before a formal note on their creation is sent to the Cabinet Committee on Security.
- The move was necessitated due to some aspects like bringing in paramilitary forces, which are under the Home Ministry, under the purview of the theatre commands and financial implications that may arise in the process of integration.
- The creation of theatre commands is now a given with directives at the highest level, the issue is about fine-tuning the proposals and forming a consensus on how they should be.
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Who will be in the panel?
- The panel includes:
- the Vice Chiefs of the three services
- the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee
- Representatives Ministries such as Home Affairs, Finance and Law
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Analysis
How did the idea of TCs evolve?
- The idea of TCs is also not a new one.
- Particularly since the 1999 Kargil War, successive committees of the Government, from the Kargil Review Committee to the Group of Ministers to the Naresh Chandra Committee, have broadly called for structural changes in higher defence management, with the main suggestions ranging from the creation of Joint Theatre Commands (JTCs) to creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff.
- Based on these recommendations, the Indian military has introduced measures to increase jointness.
- These measures include the creation of the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) at a bureaucratic level, to the creation of two Joint Commands — the Andaman and Nicobar Command (A&NC) and the Strategic Forces Command (SFC).
- However, the fact still remains that even after successive committees that have called for crucial reforms, India still has at “present 17 service-specific commands with complex geographical overlaps.”
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Current command structure
- There is a total of 17 commands today.
- In case of war, each Service Chief is expected to control the operations of his Service.
- To carry out his directions, he has functional commands headed by three-star rank Army Commanders (or equivalent in the Navy and Air Force).
- The India Army has seven commands - Northern, Eastern, Southern, Western, Central, Southwestern and Army Training Command
- The Indian Air Force too has seven commands - Western, Eastern, Southern, Southwestern, Central, Training and Maintenance
- The Navy has three commands, Western, Eastern and Southern
- Besides these, there are two tri-Service Commands [Strategic Forces Command] and the Andaman and Nicobar Command, which is rotated among the three services.
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What is the objective behind the idea of Theatre Commands (TCs)?
- The core of the idea behind TCs, is the single word of achieving ‘Jointness.’
- Jointness refers to the “the cooperation and integration of different branches of the military,” and given the fact that India operates the 4th largest military in the World, but with each service acting independent of each other, it is indeed a pertinent goal, and a critical need of the hour.
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What are the criticisms of the model?
- Increase in expenditure with doubtful returns: This line of criticism is broadly based on a cost benefit analysis of the TC idea, considering the multifaceted nature of the resource crunch that the Indian military faces.
- While India is indeed the 4th largest spender on Military, the percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) allocated to Defence has shrunk steadily with it currently standing at 1.8% of the GDP, the lowest since the 1962 Border War.
- The share of defence pensions, pay and allowances has gone up from 49 per cent in 2011-12 to 61 per cent in 2020-21. The share of capital expenditure has declined from 36 per cent in 2012 to 25 per cent in 2020-21.
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- Lack of conceptual focus: The concept is more operational than conceptual in nature.
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Is such model operational in any other country?
- This is not a new idea, with more than 32 countries in the world having a level of Joint Services set up, with key military powers like the United States and China, also operating on this model “as it is seen to be a better means of pooling resources and improving efficiency.”
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Conclusion
Free India inherited the Indian military from the British at the time of independence, which led to following the similar ethos of the British military. Therefore, the model needs a change.
Towards this objective, the validity of jointness as a concept in modern day warfare is indisputable.
