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Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to outline a clear roadmap for military transformation at the upcoming Combined Commanders’ Conference (CCC), with integrated theatre commands, joint operational preparedness, and defence indigenisation at the centre of discussions.
The three-day conference, scheduled from September 15 to 17 at Eastern Command headquarters in Kolkata, assumes added importance as the first major tri-service engagement since Operation Sindoor, the cross-border counter-terror mission undertaken in May after the Pahalgam attack.
Operation Sindoor: A Catalyst for Reform
With lessons from Sindoor still fresh, military commanders are expected to present operational takeaways that could directly shape the architecture of future theatre commands. The push to integrate the Army, Navy, and Air Force under unified command structures is seen as essential to countering multi-front threats with speed and cohesion.
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan, who has been driving the theatre command, is expected to brief the Prime Minister on milestones achieved and hurdles ahead.
Despite agreement on the need for jointness, services have expressed differing views on the leadership, design, and functional scope of theatre commands. Discussions at forums such as Ran Samvaad in Mhow revealed both opportunities and friction points. The CCC provides an institutional platform to reconcile these perspectives and move toward a shared operational vision, including in emerging domains such as space, cyber, and information warfare.
This divergence places unusual weight on the Prime Minister’s role at the CCC. As the ultimate arbiter of national security priorities, Modi is expected to nudge the services towards convergence on theatre commands while ensuring that institutional reform does not come at the cost of operational effectiveness.
Shaping the Reform Agenda
Beyond theaterisation, the CCC will also review border security dynamics with China and Pakistan, Defence Acquisition Council-cleared modernisation projects, logistics and supply chain reforms, and the push for indigenous capabilities – from the 97 Tejas Mark 1A fighters to Mission Sudarshan Chakra, India’s planned indigenous air defence system by 2035.
As Chairman of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the Prime Minister is likely to emphasise aligning service-level planning with national security objectives. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, who chairs the DAC, will address the gathering on Day 3, with a focus on procurement reforms and institutional processes.
Held biennially, the CCC is India’s apex forum for civil-military dialogue on long-term defence strategy. This edition, deferred from April due to operational commitments linked to Operation Sindoor, will be the largest collective review of doctrine, structures, and capability planning since the operation – providing a rare opportunity to translate operational lessons into institutional reform.
Ravi Shankar
