Indian commanders press for infrastructure development along Pakistan, China borders

NEW DELHI: The Indian services chiefs at the combined commanders’ conference held at the Indian military academy at Dehradum gave an extensive briefing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on issues ranging from operational preparedness and infrastructure development along the borders with China and Pakistan as well as the long-pending reforms in the country’s higher defence management.

According to Indian media, the commanders stressed for development infrastructure along Pakistan and Chinese borders to facilitate the movement of troops in times of emergency.

It was also decided at the conference that a new tri-service chief, a four-star general should be appointed to ensure synergy in training, logistics, planning and procurements among the three forces. In the longer run, the country will also have theatre commands to integrate the air, land and sea assets under single operational commanders for a greater military punch from limited budgetary resources.

This was among the major takeaways from the combined commanders’ conference+ held at the Indian Military Academy at Dehradun, which saw PM Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar brainstorming with the country’s top military brass led by Admiral Sunil Lanba, General Bipin Rawat and Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa on Saturday, said sources.

There was no official word on the military deliberations in the backdrop of the Election Commission warning the government that the conference should not be used as a platform to make any public speech or announcement that may “affect” the electoral process in poll-bound Uttarakhand.

The proposed reforms range from creating the post of the fourth four-star general and theatre commands to re-energizing joint training and doctrines. “Unified structures, first in the shape of tri-service organisations or agencies and then full-fledged commands to handle space, cyberspace and special operations, are also on the anvil,” said a source.

The sources said the theatre commands will take some years to take concrete shape, with the Army, Navy and IAF often indulging in turf wars and pulling in different directions. At present, India has 17 single-service commands and only two unified tri-service commands in the shape of the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) and the Strategic Forces Command (SFC).

While the SFC handles the country’s nuclear arsenal through “land, air and sea vectors”, the ANC is the only theatre or “geographical” command with all military assets placed under one commander-in-chief at Port Blair.

Defence sources said theatre commands are urgently needed for the conduct of synergised operations with the unity of command. They will also prove to be much more cost-effective.

While the US has had unified combatant commands to handle different parts of the globe for long, even China re-organised its 2.3-million People’s Liberation Army into five theatre commands last year.