The military commanders of the Army, Navy, and Air Force who are in charge of the western front will be meeting next week in Mumbai to discuss the threats coming from Pakistan, as well as other security issues from their side of the border. This meeting comes at a time when the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Anil Chauhan, is working towards creating Theatre Commands based on the various threats faced by India. The CDS has already called for cross-staffing among the three services and joint war games to create more synergy between them.
The western front military commanders’ conference will include the commanders-in-chief of the Army’s Northern, Western, South Western, and Southern Commands, the IAF’s Western, South Western, and Southern Commands, and the Navy’s Western Command. The commanders-in-chief of the eastern front have also been meeting in the past, along with the island territory commanders.
The new post of Chief of Defence Staff was created by the Indian Government to hasten the process of increasing jointness among the defence forces which have 17 operational commands headed by commander-in-chief rank officers. CDS Gen Anil Chauhan has already visited the majority of these 17 formations and has implemented steps to achieve more jointness between them.
The envisioned theatre commands will create joint warfighting formations ready to meet the challenges of modern warfare. New formations like the Defence Cyber Agency, tri-services Armed Forces Special Operations Division, and Defence Space Agency have been created to support the operations of theatres.
