Looking to create air defence, logistics and peninsula theatre commands: CDS Bipin Rawat
NEW DELHI: The armed forces are likely to collaborate and create an 'air defence command' to cover all aerial operations taking place in the Indian airspace, a 'peninsula command' to look after all naval operations in the closer Indian Ocean region, and a 'logistics command', said India's first chief of defence staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat on Tuesday.
Commanders of such theatres would be reporting to their respective service chiefs initially, Rawat told reporters, adding that no decision has been taken on how many joint commands would be created on the Indo-Chinese border.
"In order to become the armed forces of the Union, we need to start working on some of the aspects where we think immediate integration can happen. There, we find that air defence is one area, which according to me, is a low hanging fruit and can happen in a time-bound manner," the CDS told reporters.
The responsibility of the management of the airspace is that of the Air Force, therefore, the security and safety of the airspace must rest with that one service, he explained.
"We feel that all the assets which are there must integrate under one service so that command and control issues can be simplified," he said.
In a landmark decision, the government on December 24 last year approved the creation of a CDS in the rank of a four-star general who acts as the principal military adviser to the defence minister on all matters relating to the tri-services.
The government also decided to create a new department of military affairs (DMA) under the defence ministry, which is headed by the CDS as its secretary.
The CDS said there should be an integrated logistics command.
"There is a great scope of logistics issues being integrated," Rawat said.
Giving the example of medical resources, Rawat said among all three services, surpluses and deficiencies need to be better managed so that the doctors are neither overworked nor underutilised.
Rawat also said there is a need for a peninsula command, which would be with the Navy.
"Our thought process is that let us go with the peninsula command. Currently there is East and West command in Navy over Indian Ocean," he said.
"If you look at the Navy Chief, these two commands are just one of his charters. Look at his charter, he is looking at the entire Indian Ocean region. He is looking from east coast of Africa to right down to Australia. So, he has got a bigger picture to look at," Rawat explained.
Therefore, with the creation of the peninsula command, the Navy Chief can disinvest himself from the closer Indian Ocean region and look at the bigger picture, Rawat added.
When asked if he has finalised which theatre commands would be finally created, he said, "I am final in my mind … I would like to discuss this with the three service chiefs before I give out what is on my mind. They may be better than me. They may be having better ideas."
Rawat added that for the "northern borders" – which means India's border with China – no decision has been taken as yet on how many theatres would be created.
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