Theaterisation gathers steam: CDS can now issue joint orders for three armed Services

Indian military’s historic but very complex reforms of overhauling the entire command structure by setting up theatre commands to replace the traditional system of functional commands got yet another fillip with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday authorising the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) to issue joint instructions and joint orders for the army, the navy and the air force.

The CDS is also the Secretary, Department of Military Affairs (DMA).

Earlier, instructions and orders pertaining to two or more Services were issued by each Service separately.

“The first Joint Order on ‘Approval, Promulgation and Numbering of Joint Instructions and Joint Orders’ released on June 24, 2025, emphasises the need to streamline procedures, eliminate redundancies and enhance cross-Service cooperation,” an official release said, marking the beginning of a new era of jointness and integration.

Under theaterisation, at the lowest level, a single commander in a designated zone will command all the assets and resources of all forces be it from the army, the navy or the air force stationed in that zone.

In effect, men and material of the three armed Services will get integrated into one single fighting unit.

Last year, the government notified the Inter-Services Organisations (ISO) (Command, Control and Discipline) Act.

The ISO Act is among the pre-requisites that clear the deck for the operationalisation of the ‘theaterisation’ process. It empowers the commander-in-chief and officer-in-command of Inter-Services Organisations (ISOs) with all disciplinary and administrative powers in respect of the personnel serving in or attached to such organisations.

What it means is that the commanding officer—regardless of which parent service he or she belongs to—will be able to exert administrative and disciplinary control over the personnel under his command whether they be from the army, the air force or the navy.

Recently, CDS General Anil Chauhan in the preface of his book 'Ready, Relevant and Resurgent: A Blueprint for the Transformation of India's Military' observed that ‘theaterisation’ of the armed forces aims to create two parallel and complementary streams for ‘force application’ and ‘force generation’.

He wrote that the core function of the chiefs of the Indian Army, the Navy and the Air Force will be to ‘Raise, Train and Sustain (RTS)' while theatre commanders will have a more prominent role in military operations.

Defence