Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said jointness in the military --- a prerequisite to the creation of theatre commands --- cannot be achieved through structural reforms alone but will also require a change in mindset and the challenges involved will have to be tackled through dialogue and understanding, stressing that tri-service integration is a must for survival in a fast-changing security environment.
Such a change, he said, will not be easy as it will require “overcoming legacy habits and institutional silos,” adding that the integration drive must respect the uniqueness of each service and “uniformity cannot be imposed where it does not fit.”
“We will face challenges as we move towards jointness. But through dialogue, understanding and respect for traditions, we can overcome these hurdles. Every service must feel that the others understand their challenges, and every tradition must be honoured as we build new systems together,” Singh said at a conclave organised by the Indian Air Force (IAF) on Fostering Jointness: Synergy Through Shared Learning.
Singh’s straight talk comes at a critical moment when there are differences within the three services on theaterisation, a long-awaited reform for the best use of the military’s resources to fight future wars. Theaterisation refers to placing specific units of the army, the navy and the air force under a theatre commander. Such commands are led by an officer from any of the three services, depending on the roles assigned to them.
The air force strongly feels it should not be confined to a theatre.
{{/usCountry}}The air force strongly feels it should not be confined to a theatre.
{{/usCountry}}Jointness among the three services was in focus during Operation Sindoor --- New Delhi’s direct military response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people were killed. It led to a four-day confrontation with Pakistan that showcased the Indian military’s synergy.
“During Operation Sindoor, the tri-services synergy produced a unified, real- time operational picture,” Singh said
“It empowered commanders to take timely decisions, enhanced situational awareness, and reduced the risk of fratricide. This is the living example of jointness delivering decisive results and this success must become the benchmark for all future operations.”
Last week, the government extended the tenure of chief of defence staff General Anil Chauhan by eight months, signalling its confidence in him to implement key military reforms underway in the defence ministry, including theaterisation.
The evolving character of warfare combined with the complex interplay of traditional and non-traditional threats makes jointness a core operational necessity rather than a matter of choice, Singh said.
“Jointness has become a fundamental requirement for our national security and operational effectiveness today. While each of our services possesses the capacity to respond independently, the interconnected nature of land, sea, air, space and cyberspace makes collaborative strength the true guarantor of victory. Our government’s objective is to further promote jointness and integration. This is not only a matter of policy but a matter of survival in the fast-changing security environment,” the defence minister said.
His comments came a fortnight after Prime Minister Narendra Modi instructed the defence ministry to take swift and concrete steps to bolster jointness in the military to meet future challenges.
“In today’s security climate, compartmentalisation must give way to open sharing and collective learning. The world is changing rapidly. Threats have become far more complex and we must acknowledge that no single service can operate in isolation. Interoperability and jointness are now essential for success in any conflict,” Singh said.
He also brought out that there was no one-size-fits-all approach to jointness.
“The cold of the Himalayas is not the same as the heat of the desert. The navy faces challenges that are different from those faced by the army and air force. We cannot impose uniformity where it does not fit. Our task is to create a shared baseline that preserves uniqueness while building interoperability and trust.”
The differences among the services over theaterisation surfaced at the tri-services Ran Samwad conclave in Mhow in August. Chauhan then said that while there may be a certain degree of dissonance among the three services over theaterisation , alternative points of view were being heard without temperatures rising. The differences, he said, would be resolved. Speaking at the same event, navy chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi said theaterisation was “the ultimate goal.”
Those comments came a day after chief of the air staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said the armed forces must not come under any pressure to form joint structures and should not pick any global model that may not be relevant in the Indian context, adding that joint planning and coordination in Delhi and decentralised execution is what is required. Singh’s remarks, also made during Ran Samwad, indicated that the three services held different views on the ongoing theaterisation drive.
The theaterisation model being pursued involves raising the China-centric northern theatre command in Lucknow, the Pakistan-centric western theatre command in Jaipur, and the maritime theatre command in Thiruvananthapuram.
“If you have sensed some kind of a dissonance, let me assure you we will resolve it in the best interest of the nation...whether it is about drones, air littorals (airspace up to a few thousand feet) or even integrated command structures,” the CDS said at the time.
Reigniting the debate around theaterisation, the IAF chief then said that any structure --- whether it is current or planned later --- should not add layers to the decision making process. “Why do we need a joint structure? Is there anything ailing us…is there any problem with the structure that we have,” the IAF chief had said.
On Tuesday, the defence minister asked the armed forces to continue studying international best practices and adapt them to India’s context. “We can learn from others, but our answers must be Indian answers shaped by our geography, our needs and our culture. Only then can we build systems that are truly sustainable and future-ready.”