Unified Theatre Command - Breaking Free of Military Silos

In 2023, the Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Act was passed in the Indian Parliament, thereby liberating the monolithic organisations of the army, navy and air force from its silos. The idea of theatre command was first operationalised towards the end of WWI in 1919. In WWII, all nations that participated had organised their militaries in theatre-based joint unified commands. Today, thirty nations have reformed their militaries to follow this model. In India, while the ‘thought process’ began in the 1950s, and came under review both after India’s spectacular victory over Pakistan in 1972, and later after the Kargil War, the ball was set rolling only in 2019 by the first Chief of Defence Staff, the Late General Bipin Rawat. Parliament passed the Act in 2023.