CDS Bipin Rawat was pivotal in setting joint theatre commands; here's all you need to know

As the nation mourns the untimely demise of India’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and other heroes who lost their lives in the IAF helicopter crash, it is worth remembering how the stellar personality played a pivotal role in setting up joint theatre commands. Hailed as a visionary, CDS Rawat, while leading Southern Command in 2016 had said that the Pune-headquartered command would be an ideal theatre where a joint services command could be set up. He was the first official to publicly describe the Indian military’s deliberations on reorganising itself into “integrated theatre commands”.  

These joint theatre commands, in simpler words, are warfighting entities, containing all components of the Indian military including the Army, Navy and Air Force. These forces would jointly focus on fighting and synergising the combat power of all three services. Gen Rawat’s proposal was also regarded as the boldest move since India’s independence. 

It was CDS Rawat, who decided that the 17 single-service commands which presently exist in the Indian military would be combined into just four geographical commands. Each of these four commands will have elements from all three services. Most recently, on September 15 this year, while speaking at International Centre, Gen Rawat told an audience of intellectuals, “Today, we have four different army commands looking after Pakistan: Northern, West­ern, South-Western and South­ern commands.”

“From the Air Force, we have three commands looking after that frontier: West­ern Air Command, South-West­ern Air Command and South­ern Air Command. From the navy, we have a Western Naval Command and a Southern Na­val Command,” he had also said. 

All about CDS Rawat-proposed joint theatre commands

CDS Rawat had basically proposed four joint theatre commands. While the first one would be responsible for the nation’s border against Pakistan and referred to as “western theatre”, the second command or the “northern theatre command” would be focussed on the border with China. The third would be referred to as “maritime command” and would be well-equipped with the Navy as it would be responsible for the security of the Indian Ocean region (IOR). The fourth was the island command which is already functional as the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC). ANC would monitor the security in the eastern Indian Ocean. 

Just earlier this month on December 3, the Ministry of Defence had catalogued the various steps taken by the government to elevate the security of the country. With the same goal, the position of CDS was created in 2019 with Gen Rawat carrying out the integration and jointness in the Armed Forces including the creation of Integrated Theatre Commands. For handling the matters relating to the Army, Air Force and Navy, a separate Department of Military Affairs (DMA) was also created. 

What did Gen Rawat say in February 2020?

Back in February 2020, Gen Bipin Rawat had said that India will have two to five theatre commands to deal with the security challenges along both western and northern borders. He had envisioned that the first such structure would be made functional by 2022. Rolling out the plans for big ticker military reforms, CDS had said that the security challenges in Jammu and Kashmir will be handled by a dedicated theatre command. While talking to journalists last year, he had said that the approach of staggered procurement of major military platforms like 114 fighter jets was being readied to take shape by the end of 2021. 

"The security of Indian Ocean region has to be dealt with by one commander and he will not be required to get approval from Delhi for operational matters including movement of ships," Gen Rawat had proposed last year and he also mentioned that the decisions would be taken based on the study conducted by a team headed by Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force. 

Image: AP