INDIAN MILITARY REFORMS

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 INDIAN MILITARY REFORMS

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• Restructuring of Indian military: India is in the process of carrying out the biggest military reforms it has ever seen — theaterisation. The plan is to have five unified (or theatre) commands, to help plan better and respond quickly, and to have a unified approach to fighting any future war.
• Present structure: India currently has 19 military commands with 17 of them service-oriented. While both the Army and the Air Force have seven commands each, the Navy has three. India also has a Tri-Service Command — Andaman and Nicobar Command — besides the Strategic Forces Command (SFC), which looks after the country’s nuclear stockpile. The aim is to bring all the 17 individual commands into four or five unified or theatre commands. It might also have two more functional commands for training and logistics. Logic is that this will help in better planning and military response and also bring down cost.
• Theatre proposals: According to the proposal by CDS General Bipin Rawat, there will be five new theatres for Indian military — (i) Northern Land Theatre (Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Central sector), (ii) Western Land Theatre (Pakistan centric), (iii) Eastern Land Theatre, (iv) Maritime Theatre Command, and (v) Air Defence Command. The first two that would be rolled out are Maritime Theatre Command (MTC) and Air Defence Command (ADC), and the Northern Command will not see any change and will remain in its present form for the time being since it is operationally sensitive as it has China and Pakistan besides internal security to look after.
• Details: 

1. The MTC will see a merger of the eastern and western naval commands, besides getting elements from the Army and the Air Force. The MTC will be headed by a three-star Naval officer and will also have one two-star officer from the IAF and a three-star officer from the Army. 
2. The ADC will be headed by a three-star IAF officer, along with a three-star Army officer and a two-star Naval officer. The other theatres planned will be headed by three-star Army officers with elements from the IAF and the Navy.

• Resistance: The process led by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat has not been a smooth one. As historian Sir B.H. Liddell Hart famously said: “The only thing harder than getting a new idea into the military mind is to get the old one out.” Internal differences over the structure and scope of the theatre command came out with Gen Rawat terming the Indian Air Force as a “supporting arm” like the Artillery and the Engineers and the Air Chief Air Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria pointing out that there is much more to air power.

1. That was after the meeting to approve a draft note for the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), for approval to create theatre commands. While the creation of theatre or unified commands was the decision of the government, CDS was mandated to bring it to fruition.
2. With various questions relating to structure, command and finer aspects remaining unanswered, a committee has now been set up on the orders of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh so all issues are completely thrashed out.

• History: Theaterisation came about in World War I, and a theatre of war is “the entire land, sea and air areas that is or may become involved directly in war operations”. The term ‘theatre warfare’ became prominent during World War II with the battles being fought across continents. During World War 1 too, battles were fought across the world, but the major ones took place in what was then known as the European theatre. In World War II, new theatres emerged with multiple fronts — Nordic Front, Western Front and Eastern Front. There was also the Pacific-Asian Theater, Africa and Middle East Theater. These referred to the geographical grounds of the battle and all deployments — army, navy and air force — happened accordingly in a unified manner.
• The 21st century: Depending on what kind of operations was being undertaken, officers from specific services took over the command even though it was largely led by the Army.

1. Today, almost all major countries like China, Russia, the US, the UK and France work on a theatre command concept. But most of this theatre is based on its global outlook and part of their expeditionary character.
2. China is the latest entrant to a theatre concept and comes at a time when it has ambitions to play a larger role in the world.

• Implications of Indian approach: The cost may go up in the immediate future since all theatres would have to be armed with sufficient systems, but it will prove to be cost-effective in the long term as all acquisition will be a unified one. The perils of not having a unified approach to acquisition is what heppened in the procurement of the Apache attack helicopters from the US. While the Indian Air Force (IAF) got 22 Apaches, the Army also placed orders for six of these choppers. The end result — loss of at least Rs 2,500 crore and haphazard operational planning. The other aim is to have a unified approach to fighting the future wars. 
• China's influence: China’s theaterisation move has had an effect too. China’s Western Theater Command looks after the entire borders with India unlike India's military, where multiple Commands and structures respond with different officers at the helm. 
• Kargil war: The need for a unified approach to war fighting was brought out in the deliberations after the 1999 Kargil battle. The Kargil Review Committee and the then Group of Ministers besides the Naresh Chandra Committee had called for structural changes in higher defence management. It was the Shekatkar committee, headed by Lt Gen. (retd) D.B. Shekatkar, which had recommended the creation of the post of CDS and theatre commands. Until this committee, every other panel had only spoken about the need for unified planning.
• Shekatkar committee report: It was set up by former defence minister Manohar Parrikar, and submitted its report in December 2016. It is now the guiding principle for ongoing defence reforms, but report never was made public, as it covers operational aspects of the armed forces. Recommendations - 

1. Goal is to make the armed forces much leaner, cohesive and modern. 
2. In August 2017, then-defence minister Arun Jaitley approved 65 recommendations pertaining to the Indian Army for implementation.
3. India’s defence budget should be in the range of 2.5 to 3 per cent of the GDP, keeping in mind possible future threats.
4. It suggested the establishment of a Joint Services War College for training for middle-level officers, even through the three separate war colleges — Mhow, Secunderabad and Goa — could continue to train younger officers.
5. The Military Intelligence School at Pune be converted to a tri-service intelligence training establishment.
6. The first phase of the reforms involves redeployment and restructuring of approximately 57,000 posts of officers/JCOs/ORs and civilians.
7. Optimisation of Signals establishments to be done, to include radio monitoring companies, corps air support signal regiments, air formation signal regiments, composite signal regiments, and merger of corps operating and engineering signal regiments.
8. Restructuring of repair echelons in the Army to include base workshops, advance base workshops and static/station workshops in the field Army.
9. It called for the closure of military farms and army postal establishments in peace locations, which is among the recommendations already implemented.

• Summary: While the Army and the Navy are on board on the issue of theatersisation, the IAF while supporting the move says there can’t be multiple theatres. They argue that a single theatre is what is needed. 

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