Why Indian armed forces will shift to integrated theatre commands

The Indian Armed Forces have been finetuning the final draft for the creation of integrated theatre commands. The ambitious defence reform is aimed at integrating the three defence services — the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force (IAF) — to operate jointly in specific adversary-based theatres with defined military goals during a limited conflict or war. The government had set the ball rolling on the reform in 2019 by creating the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), and setting up the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) to oversee the transition. In its manifesto for the…