Military reforms and creation of "Integrated Theatre Commands" (joining Army, Navy and Air force) is being debated widely now.
In this context, there is a need for clear policy-driven directives that meet India’s national security needs and challenges.
What is the context of the proposed defense reforms?
"Naresh Chandra Committee report", prepared in the aftermath of Kargil War focused on a restructuring of "higher defense organization" as the first step.
This was intended to improve synergy among different state departments - bureaucracy, military, research and development, intelligence etc.
While little progress has been made to institutionalize these recommendations, the debate has now gone towards reforming the operational realm.
Here, the proposal is to set up joint theatre commands where interoperability across services like "army, navy and air force" is being sought to be enhanced.
Unfortunately, in this regard too there has been no progress, with services getting pitted against one another in a series of turf wars for operational control.
What are the concerns?
The proposal for standalone theatre commands like the pilot in Andaman & Nicobar Islands lacks clarity on the overall picture.
The discussion of the kind of integration envisioned at the higher echelons (like the post of "Chief of Defense Staff") hasn't been having a clear direction.
Whether theatre commands would reduce the powers of chiefs of the various services over their resources is also not known currently.
The Indian Air force has also expressed operational problems in being delegated under theatre commands, due to shortage of resources.
Notably, with a sanctioned strength of 45 squadrons, the Air force currently operates with just about 32, due to shortage of fighter jets.
Further, during all previous military initiatives, the Air force under the current command structure has delivered clear and appreciable results.
What is the way ahead?
The evolving nature of the warfare has changed the way combat is carried out and the focus on integrated commands might actually be redundant.
Further, it's only for far off offensive missions that theatre commands are more suited to and home defense is largely done through conventional commands.
With technological advancements in weaponry, the focus should be more on upending the defense arsenal and its operability.
The future battle field is lesser about mobilizing large armies and more about better surveillance, and cyber capabilities to pre-empt attacks.
In this context, reducing the tooth-to-tail ratio (combatants-to-support staff) and improving the potency of the tail operators is vital for the military.
