Indian Government Moves on Integrated Theater Commands

[RATHORE]

Reaction: Finally, long overdue move. Hope that India firmly moves toward a CDS and Theater Command setup in the future with full integration between all the services.

Govt moves on integrated theatre commands; amends rules to bring three forces under single leadership
Rajat Pandit| TNN | Updated: Mar 19, 2018, 06:02 IST

• Govt has taken the first step towards having integrated theatre commands by amending command & control rules for joint organisations and establishments.
• This means all the manpower and assets of the Army, Navy and IAF will be under the operational control of a single three-star general in theatre commands.

NEW DELHI: India has finally taken the first step towards eventually having integrated theatre commands, where all the manpower and assets of the Army, Navy and IAF are under the operational control of a single three-star general in theatre commands, by amending command and control rules for joint organisations and establishments.


Sources said the government has notified new “statutory rules and orders” to ensure an officer from any one service can now “exercise direct command” over personnel from the other two services, who are all governed by different acts and rules, in tri-service organisations.

The move has been implemented especially for the strategically-located Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC), which was established as India’s first theatre command in October 2001 but has largely failed to achieve its potential due to internecine turf wars among the three services, general politico-bureaucratic apathy, fund crunches and environmental concerns.

“It might seem a minor structural reform but represents a huge cultural, fundamental shift in the Indian military system, where the three services often pull in different directions. If the country is to have a chief of defence staff (CDS) and theatre commands in the years ahead, this tweaking of the Army, Navy and IAF rules is the first step towards it,” said a top source.

The naval commander-in-chief of the ANC can now directly control and discipline Army and IAF officers and other personnel under him, even as similar moves are afoot to eventually bring all land and assets under him in the archipelago. “It will serve as the template for theatre commands in the future.

Moreover, we need a fully unified approach in ANC due to the expanding Chinese threat in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR),” he added.

The NDA government had initially shown some drive for meaningful reforms in the country’s higher defence establishment in the shape of creating a CDS post and theatre commands to ensure much-needed synergy in training, logistics, planning, procurements and operations among the 1.5-million strong armed forces.

There was, for instance, even a proposal to create integrated theatre commands in the shape of one or two (one each for west and east of Nepal) for the northern border with China, a western command for Pakistan, a counterinsurgency operations command and one or two peninsular commands for the maritime borders.

But nothing concrete has come out of it. The armed forces currently have 17 single-service commands, with only two unified commands in ANC and the Strategic Forces Command to handle the country’s nuclear arsenal.

China, meanwhile, has reorganised its 2.3-million People’s Liberation Army into five theatre commands to crank up its offensive capabilities as well as establish better command-and-control structures.

Its western theatre command now handles the entire Line of Actual Control with India instead of the earlier Chengdu Military Region in the east and the Lanzhou Military Region towards the north, as was reported by TOI.


Original Link: Govt moves on integrated theatre commands; amends rules to bring three forces under single leadership - Times of India

 

[Shashank]

I have been hearing about this for quite a while . Better be late than never.

 

[Shashank]

India’s proposed military ‘theater commands’ a mirage

On Monday morning, news that the Indian government was finally moving toward integrated theater commands (ITCs) caused much excitement. The Times of India headline “Govt moves on integrated theater commands; amends rules to bring three forces under single leadership” was met with a host of accolades.

The report, quoting official sources, said the government had given notification of new “statutory rules and orders” to ensure that an officer from any one service can now “exercise direct command” over personnel from the other two services, which are all governed by different acts and rules, in tri-service organizations. It has already been implemented in the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC).

Quoting a “top source,” the report went on to say: “It might seem a minor structural reform but represents a huge cultural and fundamental shift in the Indian military system, where the three services often pull in different directions. If the country is to have a Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) and theater commands in the years ahead, this tweaking of rules of the Army, Navy and Air Force is the first step towards it.”

It added that the NDA (National Democratic Alliance) government “had initially shown some drive for meaningful reforms in the country’s higher defense establishment in the shape of creating a CDS post and theater commands to ensure much-needed synergy in training, logistics, planning, procurement and operations among the 1.5-million-strong armed forces.”

However, the manner in which the above news was portrayed gave an impression that the “tectonic shift” required in the Ministry of Defense, as recommended by Dr Subhash Bhamre, minister of state for defense, had miraculously arrived given the news alluded to the “top source,” which obviously meant from the MoD.

The news might be good for building public perception, but a closer examination reveals that it typically fits the maxim “much ado about nothing.” This was done to overcome minor differences in provision of the three services: a Tri-Service Act to facilitate legal provisions, which was left languishing with the MoD for six years. It has nothing to do with the establishment of ITCs, on which both the Congress-led UPA (United Progressive Alliance) and Bhartiya Janata Party-led NDA governments have done little other than making periodic noises.

The “first step” being bandied about in the news is not even a “baby step” but a “pseudo step.” It will be interesting to know who the “top source” is that briefed the Times writer.

‘Serious weaknesses’
In 2001, the Kargil Review Committee and Group of Ministers (GoM) recommended appointment of a CDS. The GoM report says, “The functioning of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) has, to date, revealed serious weaknesses in its ability to provide single-point military advice to the government, and resolve substantive inter-service doctrinal, planning, policy and operational issues adequately. This institution needs to be appropriately revamped to discharge its responsibilities efficiently and effectively, including the facilitation of jointness and synergy among the Defense Services.”

The Naresh Chandra Committee recommended a Permanent Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee (PC COSC) in lieu of a CDS – a bureaucratic mischief.

Incidentally in 2005, then-defense minister Pranab Mukherjee statedthat the government had even decided who the CDS would be but there was “no political consensus,” adding in the same breath, “but then there is no political consensus on so many things but they do come through.”

Ten years later in March 2015, then-defense minister Manohar Parrikar stated publicly that a CDS was a must and hoped to propose a mechanism for the post within the next three months. In July, news reports quoting MoD sources said the proposal to create a PC COSC was at “an advanced stage.” Five months later, in December 2015, Parrikar lamented, “It is sad many defense reforms in past have not been implemented. This is an area of priority for me,” also indicating that CDS could be a reality soon. Nothing was heard after that.

In February 2017, media reported that the government was all set to “initiate independent India’s greatest military reforms” with creation of ITCs based on geographical areas of operation or functionality and a single-point military advisor designated as CDS. Perhaps that ended with the exit of Parrikar as the defense minister.

Neither the UPA nor the NDA has been interested in rectifying the antiquated higher defense set-up and usher in military jointness. The Headquarters of the Integrated Defense Staff, which was to be an integral part of the MoD, was kept apart, so bureaucrats without accountability continue to rule the roost.

It is not true that the government plans to establish US-model ITCs, because it opposes reorganizing the MoD on the lines of the US Department of Defense, which is jointly manned by military and civilian professionals. Similarly, a plan for privatizing Ordnance Factories was shelved after employees threatened a mass strike and some 300,000 reportedly did so when a few items were de-listed.

On the contrary, the army’s Advance Base Workshops with uniformed personnel, which are not more than 15% of all maintenance workshops, are being privatized and going under MoD jurisdiction. This is lowering their efficiency to Ordnance Factory level, with the latter excessively overpricing items sold to the military; the booty naturally shared by the MoD.

Comparing military reforms in China with what is happening in India, courtesy of the government-appointed Shekatkar Committee, it is difficult to decide whether to laugh or lament. The future is anybody’s guess.