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New Delhi: Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief, Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh, has said that any decision regarding the creation of a new joint command structure for India\u2019s armed forces will be taken in the \u201cnational interest,\u201d amid reports of disagreement among the three services over the proposed \u201ctheaterisation\u201d plan.<\/p>\n
According to Kashmir Media Service, speaking at the India Defence Conclave in New Delhi, the IAF Chief claimed that his force was not opposed to the theater command concept but emphasized that the move should follow detailed analysis and inter-service consultation.<\/p>\n
The theaterisation initiative seeks to bring the Army, Navy, and Air Force under unified geographical commands headed by a single commander \u2014 a proposal that has sparked unease within the military establishment, particularly among Air Force officers.<\/p>\n
Air Chief Marshal Singh said, \u201cWe may need another joint structure, but let\u2019s not go by models that exist elsewhere and assume they fit us.\u201d He maintained that reforms should evolve from lessons learned through recent military operations rather than being imposed through external templates.<\/p>\n
Asked whether the IAF had resisted the move after the failed \u201cOperation Sindoor,\u201d Singh avoided a direct answer, saying the focus should be on evaluating existing capabilities and ensuring operational coordination.<\/p>\n
In August, during his address at the Army War College in Mhow, the IAF Chief had called for establishing a joint planning and coordination centre in New Delhi to ensure synchronized tri-services functioning. At Tuesday\u2019s conclave, he again cited Operation Sindoor as an example of teamwork among the services, describing it as a \u201creflection of tri-services synergy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Observers note that despite official denials, the IAF\u2019s repeated emphasis on \u201ccareful deliberation\u201d signals unease over the Army-dominated command structure proposed under the theaterisation plan, which many believe could undermine the Air Force\u2019s operational independence.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Indian Navy Chief Admiral D.K. Tripathi, also speaking at the event, underlined the changing nature of warfare, saying, \u201cSemiconductors can be as decisive as submarines, and secure data links matter as much as secure sea lanes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Analysts say the open divergence in tone between the top military leaders indicates growing inter-service friction and institutional mistrust within India\u2019s armed forces \u2014 a sign of deeper systemic instability under the Modi regime\u2019s ambitious but controversial defence restructuring agenda.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New Delhi: Indian Air Force (IAF) Chief, Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh, has said that any decision regarding the creation of a new joint command structure for India\u2019s armed forces will be taken in the \u201cnational interest,\u201d amid reports of disagreement among the three services over the proposed \u201ctheaterisation\u201d plan. According to Kashmir Media Service, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":187237,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-187236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2025\/11\/4-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=187236"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":187238,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/187236\/revisions\/187238"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/187237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=187236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=187236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=187236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}