Theaterisation of defence forces is a concept that seeks to integrate the capabilities of the three forces i.e. army, air force, and navy, and optimally utilize their resources for wars and operations. It includes the creation of four theatre commands – an air defense command, a maritime theatre command, and two land-based theatre commands for the western and eastern sectors.

The rationale behind the catheterization of defence forces:

• Hostile borders: To address the adversaries in the neighborhood as the threats are being raised in terms of land and air simultaneously in light of drone attacks and cross-border infiltration.
• Avoid duplication: To avoid duplication of efforts, ensure seamless integration, and optimum utilization of available resources, integration is sought.
• To tackle modern-day warfare: Modern-day wars will be fought simultaneously in a non-linear pattern across the spectrum of land, sea, and air, thus theaterisation of defense forces is desired.
• Synergy: It will bring synergy among all the branches of the Indian armed forces and will help in speedy mobilization and intel sharing. forces and

Challenges with respect to catheterization of defence forces:

• Budget: The distribution of finances and budgetary allocation optimally will be a major challenge.
• Loss of authority: The independence and superiority of each service in its domain may lead to the reluctance of the individual service heads to cooperate with the other services.
• Shortage of assets: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has only 31 operational squadrons against a modest sanctioned strength of 42, which would make it difficult for the IAF to permanently station assets in a particular command with territorial boundaries.
• Lack of experience: India’s limited experience in the integration of defence forces may raise fresh challenges at the time of warfare.
• Differences in doctrine: Each service has its own doctrine and any such integration would lead to domination of a specific doctrine of one service.

Suggestions to address the challenges in catheterization:

• Integrated commands for hostile neighbors: Creation of integrated theatre commands for northern and eastern borders with China, one for western borders with Pakistan, and a third for maritime security.
• Creation of joint training command: This will instill a sense of belonging among the personnel of different services and address the existing differences.
• Updating doctrines: Updating the doctrine of defense services like the Air Force updated its doctrine from “Air Force” to “Aerospace Force”.

With India transforming itself from a regional power to global power and the rising threats in the South Asia region, there is a need for a strong defense set-up at the domestic level. Along with the theorisation of defence forces, it is necessary to implement other recommendations provided by the Shekatkar Committee to strengthen the defence capabilities of India.