New military theatre commands to take 2-3 years; structure being discussed

Work on creating new military theatre commands is on track, with new structures expected to come up within two to three years and commanders progressively taking charge after the details are finalised, senior government sources have said.

Contrary to expectations that the commands could come up within a year, officials said the creation of integrated theatres will take time as senior commanders have been tasked to come up with a structure in consultation with tri services officers.

For example, the task for creating a structure for the new Western Theatre Command has been entrusted on the South West Army Commander. Similarly, structures for other theatre commands — east, maritime and air defence — have been entrusted to commander in chief level officers of the three services.


“The services will nominate commander in chiefs who will have a dual role — handling their command and coming up with a structure for the new theatre command. A year has been given for this. Once these reports come in, they would work with the other services to finalise it. The creation of the first theatre command in two or three years away,” a senior official said.

The plan is to have four theatre commands — two land-oriented commands for the east and west, a maritime command and an air defence command. Sources said the existing commander in chief level officers would be integrated into these commands as staff officers, advising the theatre commanders. Once the theatre commands are finalised, new commanders will progressively take charge. The plan is to first shift the charge for operations from military commands to theatre commander. This would be followed over a few months with shifting of logistics and other aspects like administration and human resources to the new integrated commands.

The Western Theatre Command is expected to come up at Jaipur while the location for the Eastern Command is currently being debated between Kolkata and Lucknow. The Maritime Command is expected to come up at Karwar, though Kochi has also been under consideration. The location for the Air Defence Command has not been finalised, options include Jodhpur, Gandhinagar and Prayagraj.