PM Modi to preside over commanders conference in Kolkata next week, 'theatre commands' on agenda

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week will preside over a key defence meeting that will discuss creation of the long-awaited “theatre commands” even though the Indian Air Force has raised fresh objections on the idea post Operation Sindoor.

The Prime Minister will be at the three-day Combined Commanders Conference in Kolkata beginning September 15 where Chief of the Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan was likely to make presentations on a roadmap on forming “theatre commands” in a bid to reform the higher defence command structure in the armed forces, sources said.

In an official statement, the Defence Ministry on Monday said, the conference would focus on reforms, transformation and change, and operational preparedness, reflecting the armed forces’ commitment to institutional reforms, deeper integration and technological modernisation, while sustaining a high level of multi-domain operational readiness.

“The deliberations will seek to further strengthen the armed forces which are agile and decisive in an increasingly complex geo-strategic landscape,” it says.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, CDS Gen Chauhan, three Service Chiefs, Defence Secretary and other top officials will attend the conference at the headquarters of the Eastern Army Command. The conference will also feature interactive sessions with officers and personnel of various ranks from the armed forces.

Gen Chauhan, sources said, might make presentations on the proposed theatre commands that were in the works since 2019 when Gen Bipin Rawat was appointed as the first CDS. His task was to reduce the number of operational commands from existing 17 commands shared between the army (7), air force (7) and navy (3).

The IAF had opposed the idea from the beginning. A fresh criticism came two weeks back from Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal A P Singh who publicly countered the idea of theatre commands. Instead he advocated for a joint centre for coordination.

At a recent tri-service seminar at Mhow, Air Chief Marshal Singh said creating a new structure while disrupting everything was not a very good idea at this point of time because Operation Sindoor once again established the "primacy" of the air power.

"I personally feel that having a joint planning and coordination centre in Delhi is what is required," he said, noting that it should be kept under the Chiefs of Staff Committee.

However, the Army and Navy Chiefs backed the idea with Gen Upendra Dwivedi asserting that it would only be a matter of time before theatre commands would be realised.

"Theaterisation will come, today or tomorrow. We just have to see how long it will take. We have to go through certain steps to bring in theaterisation, which includes jointness, integration. A lot of things need to be discussed over that," Gen Dwivedi said at an event on Friday.

The initial plans on theatre commands underwent multiple iterations and following the untimely death of Gen Rawat in a helicopter crash, the task was entrusted to Gen Chauhan, who has been interacting closely with the three services to evaluate various ideas.

The current idea is to have operational commands in the northern and eastern sectors looking at the disputed boundary with China besides one command for the western border with Pakistan and a maritime command. It is not clear if there will be a separate command for the IAF or air assets will be distributed among the new commands – an idea that hasn’t found favour with the IAF.