Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi endorsed the views of CDS General Anil Chauhan and Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi on the creation of integrated theatre commands, saying theaterisation is needed as the Army alone can’t fight the wars.
New Delhi: Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi on Friday endorsed the views of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan and Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi on the creation of integrated theatre commands, and said theaterisation is needed as the Army alone not going to fight the wars.
However, a week back at the Army War College in Indore, Indian Air Force chief ACM AP Singh had cautioned against rushing theater commands and instead proposed setting up a joint planning and coordination centre in Delhi to gear up for future wars.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of former Chinar Corps commander Lieutenant General KJS Dhillon’s (Retd) book — ‘Operation Sindoor: The Untold Story of India’s Deep Strikes Inside Pakistan’ launch in Delhi, Gen Dwivedi said: “Theaterization is something that will inevitably come sooner or later; the only question is how much time it will take. To implement it, we need to go through several steps involving jointness, integration, and careful planning.”
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Stressing on the need of having unified command, the Army chief said, “It is essential because wars are not fought by the Army alone… With so many agencies involved, theaterization becomes the solution, as unity of command is crucial. A single commander is needed to coordinate execution effectively, making theaterization absolutely essential.”
As Asianet Newsable English had reported last year that India would be raising three Integrated Theatre Commands (ITCs) — the China-specific Northern Theatre Command, with HQ in Lucknow; the Pakistan-centric Western Theatre Command with HQ in Jaipur; and a Maritime Theatre Command, with HQ in Thiruvananthapuram.
Operation Sindoor and Ongoing Threats
During the book launch, the Army chief said: “You may be thinking that on May 10, the war finished; no, because it continued for a long time, because so many decisions were to be taken, and beyond that, of course, it will be difficult for me to share here.”
On May 7, India launched Operation Sindoor to destroy terrorist infrastructures in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied-Jammu and Kashmir, in retaliation for the deadly Pahalgam attack on April 22.
General Dwivedi added that while the operation targeted terror infrastructure, infiltration attempts are still being reported along the LoC.
“If you look at today’s date and see if state-sponsored terrorism has ended, I don’t think so. Infiltration attempts have still been made along the LoC. The number of terrorists killed and those who escaped are known and have been reported,” Gen Dwivedi said.
GST Reform a Boost for Defence Sector
He also welcomed the government’s decision to reduce goods and services tax (GST) and said: “The reform will allow greater investment in defence corridors and support MSMEs and startups. They will find it easier to invest in research, development, manufacturing, and upgradation of equipment for the Indian Army.”