Importance of jointmanship

India’s CDS General Bipin Rawat wears three hats — he is the permanent chairman of COSC, heads the department of military affairs (DMA), and is the singlepoint military adviser to the defence minister.

The government expects Rawat, who took charge as India’s first CDS on January 1, 2020, to bring about jointness among the three services in a three-year time frame (by January 2023). One of the means to achieve jointness is the setting up of integrated theatre commands for the best use of military resources to fight future battles.

Apart from the Air Defence and Maritime Theatre Commands, India is expected to have three other integrated commands to secure its western, northern and eastern fronts — these will be rolled out by December 2022, and several studies are currently on to finalise the structures of these commands. In addition, a logistics command is in the works to avoid duplication of efforts and resources. The CDS’s mandate includes bringing about jointness in operations, logistics, transport, training, support services and repairs and maintenance of the three services.

The long-overdue integrated theatres will transform the Indian military from a military force to a military power, contributing to India’s stature as a global leader, said Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia (retd), who was heading the Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS) until last month and has worked extensively on aspects related to jointness.

“On account of China’s aggressive behaviour along the LAC and the Covid-19 pandemic, the armed forces will be tasked, asked and expected to do more with less (resources). Hence, it is imperative that the armed forces roll out the integrated theatre commands fast,” said Bhatia, also a former director general of military operations.

The Air Defence Command will bring about the muchneeded synergy between air assets of the three services, with their optimal application providing seamless air defence cover, which will be critical to counter the Chinese threat, experts said.

“While the aerospace domain is critical for deterrence, the maritime theatre too needs integration at the earliest as our locational/geographical advantages can deter China’s aggressiveness (in the Indian Ocean region). Synergy in application of combat power is essential in new age warfare, which is multi domain and waged in many key battle spaces simultaneously,” said Bhatia.

India has finally demonstrated politico-military will to address the much-needed theaterisation, he said.