Integrated Theatre Commands of the Indian Armed Forces are varying degrees of synergy and cross-service cooperation between the military branches of the Armed Forces. In 1947, after Independence, a joint educational framework was set up, starting with the first tri-service academy in the world, the National Defence Academy, and over the years this joint educational framework has been expanded to bring officers from the different services together at different stages of their careers.
Jointness and integration are achieved through tri–service organisations such as the Integrated Defence Staff. The creation of the post of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) in January 2020 was seen as a major push for the indigenous joint warfare and theaterisation process of the Indian Armed Forces. So too were efforts to enhance civil–military cooperation, including the creation of the Department of Military Affairs. These are considered key to orienting India's defence toward a more joint approach.
The recommendations of the Kargil Review Committee promoted increasing jointness and integration. Subsequent committees such as the Shekatkar Committee in 2016 included the creation of three integrated theatres commands. In February 2020, CDS Bipin Rawat said two to five theatre commands may be set up. The completion of the creation of theatre commands, both integrated and joint commands, will take several years. Indian Air Force opposed the formation of unified theatre commands citing limitation of resources.
India currently has service–a specific commands system. However, joint and integrated commands, also known as unified commands; and further divided into theatre or functional commands, have been set up and more are proposed. The only fully functional theatre command is the Andaman and Nicobar Command set up in 2001, while the Strategic Forces Command, set up in 2003, is an integrated functional command or specified combatant command. Recently constructed integrated functional commands under the Integrated Defence Staff include the Defence Cyber Agency, Defence Space Agency and the Special Operations Division.
History
One of the earliest forms of jointness was the integration of infantry and cavalry. In the United States, during the Siege of Vicksburg in 1863, joint operations were seen in the actions of General Ulysses S. Grant and Admiral David D. Porter, who went on to leverage the combined power of the army and navy. The United Kingdom was the first country to have a Chiefs of Staff Committee in 1923. In the Second World War, General Douglas MacArthur and General Dwight D. Eisenhower were put in roles in which they commanded vast tri-service military operations. Despite the victory in the war, major structural flaws were observed, resulting in the creation of the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff as the principal military adviser in the United States. In the United Kingdom, by the 1960s, the three military headquarters were integrated into the Ministry of Defence, and the post of Chief of Defence Staff was created as the principal military adviser. Over the years in both the United States and the United Kingdom changes towards greater integration have been seen, for example, the passage of the Goldwater–Nichols Act in 1986. France, Germany and Australia have also shifted to a more integrated defence management system. In Russia the creation of strategic commands was laid down in 2010 and soon after China followed with the 2015 People's Republic of China military reform and the creation of five theatre commands.
Joint Services Institutions in the Indian Armed Forces
Following Independence, India set up a Joint Services Wing, commissioned in 1949, to train cadets before they would go on for further training in their respective service institutions. By 1954, the Joint Services Wing would go on to become the National Defence Academy, the first tri-service military academy in the world. By 1950, the Defence Services Staff College was also converted to a fully integrated institution. In 1960 and 1970, the National Defence College and the College of Defence Management were commissioned, respectively. This joint educational framework that brought officers together at different stages of their careers has been beneficial in increasing inter-service camaraderie.
In his book, "My Years with the IAF", Retd. Air Chief Marshal P. C. Lal wrote that "The Bangladesh war demonstrated that the three Services working closely together were strong and decisive in their actions. Inter-Services cooperation was indeed the most important lesson of that war." However, Air Marshal Vinod Patney pointed out that one of India's first experiences with jointness did not work out so well. He writes that India had attempted to try out a Theatre Commander during the initial stages of the Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War with the deployment of the Indian Peace Keeping Force. However, after helicopters were sent on missions without proper advice, resulting in avoidable loss of life and machinery, air and naval assets were once again positioned under respective air and naval commanders. Under this structure, the operations continued till the end of the peacekeeping operations in 1990.
Following the Kargil War in 1999, the Kargil Review Committee was set up to review where India went wrong during the limited war with Pakistan and suggest changes to the security apparatus accordingly. Subsequently, a Group of Ministers was formed and, in turn, four task forces. Among the numerous recommendations suggested were "integration of the services both with each other and with the Ministry of Defence, the creation of a chief of defence staff and joint operational commands". The Manohar Parrikar-led Ministry of Defence appointed a committee of experts, chaired by Retd.Lt General DB Shekatkar, submitted its report in December 2016. Among the recommendations of the Shekatkar Committee was the creation of three integrated theatre commands.
About The Department of Military Affairs under the Chief of Defence Staff has the mandate for the "Facilitation of restructuring of Military Commands for optimal utilisation of resources by bringing about jointness in operations, including through establishment of joint/theatre commands". India's Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat has said that India will find its way of constructing its unified commands. Integrated Theatre Commands are allocated specific geographical theatres and can operate independently. In June 2020, Lt General (Dr) Prakash Menon wrote that "The main aim of Theatre Commands is to facilitate integrated planning and coordinated application".
Terminology According to the 2017 Joint Doctrine publication of the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff:
According to the former Chief of India's Army Staff Deepak Kapoor, who recommended theatre commands as early as the 1980s, "integration is a step ahead of jointness in ensuring a synergised approach to operations". While in a joint command, the parent service remains part of the decision-making process, in integrated commands, resources from the three services are already placed under one commander. In the case of an integrated command, the commander must be able to fully understand the workings of all the services under his command.
Implementation India, as of May 2025, has two fully functional unified commands — the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) set up in 2001 and the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) set up in 2003. While the ANC is an integrated theatre command, the SFC is an integrated functional command (or specified combatant command). There are 17 single-service commands — 7 of the Army, 7 of the Air Force, and 3 of the Navy. Each of these commands is located at a separate base.
2020 The Air Defence Command was expected to be the first command to be undertaken as of 2020. Integrated commands set up as specialised service providers have also been formed: Defence Cyber Agency, Defence Space Agency, and the Armed Forces Special Operations Division that are agencies of Integrated Defence Staff. The Defence Cyber Agency could go on to form the Information Warfare Command. Other proposed commands include the Logistics Command and the Training & Doctrinal Command. The Integrated Defence Staff and the Defence Planning Committee are an integral part of the theaterisation process. In February, the then Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat said two to five theatre commands are being looked into.
2023 In June, reports confirmed that Air Defence Command will not be operationalised due to Indian Air Force stating a different Command for Air Defence shall be "counter-productive" because "air defence" and "offensive air" operations are inter-dependent. Air Force also cited "that dividing limited air assets into separate [sic] commands would be unwise." Hence, as of 2023, three different commands will be set up, one for managing the border with China, another one for managing the border with Pakistan, and the third as the Maritime Theatre Command. Each of the commands will be headed by three-star officers from the Indian Armed Forces.
2024 In July, the Defence Ministry identified Jaipur as the base for the Western Theatre Command; Lucknow as the base for the Northern Theatre Command and the base for Maritime Theatre Command at Thiruvananthapuram. The maintenance facilities for common platforms used by more than one branch like AK-203 rifle, HAL Dhruv, AH-64E Apache, HAL Prachand, Dassault Rafale, etc. are also planned to be brought under an Integrated Maintenance Command.
On 4 and 5 September, the first Joint Commander's Conference (JCC) was held at Lucknow (current headquarters Army Central Command). The CDS General Anil Chauhan inaugurated the first conference. The other attendees of the meeting included Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane, the 3 Service Chiefs, the 17 Commanders-in-Chief of current Commands of the Services, the 2 Commanders-in-Chief of current Tri-service Commands, DRDO chairman and other senior personalities of the Ministry of Defence. During the conference, the defence minister received the "detailed modalities" for the creation of Integrated Theatre Commands prepared by the Armed Forces Services. The Armed Forces would roll out the timeline of the introduction of the Theatre Commands. The plans to set up four Joint Logistics Nodes (JLN) at Leh, Siliguri, Sulur, and Prayagraj were to be proposed in addition to the already-established ones at Mumbai, Guwahati, and Port Blair. It was also noted that Commanders-in-Chief of the three Theatre Commands and the Vice Chief of Defence Staff are proposed to be four-star rank officers equivalent to the Chiefs of the Services (General, Air Chief Marshal and Admiral). The theatre commanders will handle operational security, while the role of the service chiefs will be to strengthen other administrative functions of the Armed Forces. An Army and Air Force officer would head the Western and Northern Command for 18 months in rotation, while a Navy officer would head the Maritime Command. There has been many developments and discussions in the last 2 years for setting up the Theatre Commands.