Amid Rising Border Dispute, India Plans To Reorganise Military Under Five Theatre Commands With 1 Each For China & Pak

The five commands coming up in India are -- The northern command, the Western Command, the Peninsular Command, air defence command and marine command.

(File Photo/ AFP)

Amid the rising border disputes, the Indian Army is gearing up to strengthen its military and ensure synchronised operations to counter threats from China, Pakistan. According to the reports, the Indian Army will reorganise itself under five theatre commands by 2022 and soon the department of military affairs will have additional and joint secretaries after Cabinet clearance. A Hindustan Times report stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given the mandate to India’s Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat to create theatre commands much like the ones China and the US currently have. The five commands coming up in India are -- The northern command, the Western Command, the Peninsular Command, air defence command and marine command. Out of the five theatre commands, Pakistan and China will have specific command due to rising border conflicts with these two countries. If the reports are to be believed, the task of restructuring three services under the Theater Command has begun under serious consideration with the Special Northern Command of China and the Specific Western Command of Pakistan. It is pertinent to mention that China made its theater command some time back by abolishing its military region. The Western Theater Command of the Chinese Army handles the Indian border. The development has come to the light ten days after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that the presence of a large number of Chinese troops with weapons at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) posed a “very critical” security challenge to India. Stressing that the Galwan incident on June 15, when 20 Indian soldiers and an unspecified number of Chinese soldiers were killed in violent clashes, has left the bilateral relationship “profoundly disturbed”, Jaishankar said the massing of troops at the border has created a “very critical security challenge”.