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The Indian armed forces have taken another concrete step towards long-awaited theatre commands, with the Combined Commanders’ Conference (CCC-2025) in Kolkata concluding on Wednesday with two major decisions – the creation of three new joint military stations and the merger of the services’ education branches into a Tri-Services Education Corps.
Though details of the proposed stations have not yet been disclosed, the model is clear: all facilities of the Army, Navy and Air Force – from logistics and repair to infrastructure, maintenance, and supply chains – will be consolidated under one lead service at each location. This jointness ensures optimisation of resources, avoids duplication, and prepares the ground for the integrated application of force central to theatre commands.
These new stations will add to the existing tri-service logistics nodes in Mumbai, Guwahati and Port Blair, which are already functioning as pilot projects for joint structures.
A Move Towards Integration
Announcing the decisions on the social media platform X, Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) stated:
“On the final day of the Combined Commanders’ Conference 2025, a decision by all the Chiefs and Commanders for the merging of the education branches of the three services to form a single Tri Services Education Corps was announced. The decision on the formation of three Joint Military Stations was also announced.”
The structural reform in education is equally significant. By bringing together the training and instructional wings of the three services, the Tri-Services Education Corps will foster common standards, eliminate redundancies, and cultivate an integrated pool of military educators. It echoes the CDS’s broader message of “train together, fight together” as the services prepare for multi-domain operations.
CDS Chauhan’s Push For Reform
The push for deeper integration came during a session chaired by Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan, who reviewed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s instructions to fast-track military reforms and implement them within set timelines.
“CCC-2025 has been instrumental in identifying and finalising the most important transformations required that will drive impactful changes in the future,” the IDS noted.
The conference, themed ‘Year of Reforms -Transforming for the Future,’ addressed interoperability, streamlined decision-making, and reforming institutional frameworks in emerging domains, including space, cyber, information warfare, and special operations.
Theatre Commands at the Core
The setting up of theatre commands – designed to bring the Army, Navy and Air Force under unified geographical and functional commands – remains the ultimate goal of these reforms. It has been identified as one of the nine priority areas under the Year of Reforms 2025, alongside indigenous capability building, faster acquisition procedures, and restructuring in the cyber and space domains.
While differences over the design and scope of theatre commands persist among the services, CCC-2025 has helped bridge gaps by building consensus on smaller but crucial steps, such as joint stations and educational integration.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is personally conducting quarterly reviews to ensure progress on theaterisation, signalling the government’s political will to push through the transformation despite internal debates.
A New Doctrine in Space
The conference also witnessed a milestone with the release of the Joint Military Space Doctrine, formalising space as a core operational domain in India’s national security strategy. This move comes against the backdrop of China’s rapid expansion of space capabilities, including anti-satellite weapons and electronic warfare systems that can disrupt or disable satellites.
By institutionalising space operations, India is signalling that it is preparing for a future where dominance in the electromagnetic spectrum and outer space will be as critical as control of land, sea and air.
Looking Ahead
The Defence Ministry, in its statement, described CCC-2025 as a “major step in transforming the armed forces into a more integrated, technologically advanced, and operationally agile force, fully capable of addressing multi-domain threats, safeguarding national interests and contributing to global peace and stability.”
The outcomes of CCC-2025 underline the government’s determination to move from incremental reforms towards structural transformation. The creation of joint military stations and a tri-services education corps may appear administrative at first glance, but they are critical stepping stones towards the eventual goal of theatre commands – a reform that will redefine how India’s armed forces prepare, plan and fight in the decades ahead.
Ravi Shankar
Dr Ravi Shankar has over two decades of experience in communications, print journalism, electronic media, documentary film making and new media.
He makes regular appearances on national television news channels as a commentator and analyst on current and political affairs. Apart from being an acknowledged Journalist, he has been a passionate newsroom manager bringing a wide range of journalistic experience from past associations with India’s leading media conglomerates (Times of India group and India Today group) and had led global news-gathering operations at world’s biggest multimedia news agency- ANI-Reuters. He has covered Parliament extensively over the past several years. Widely traveled, he has covered several summits as part of media delegation accompanying the Indian President, Vice President, Prime Minister, External Affairs Minister and Finance Minister across Asia, Africa and Europe.
