Discuss how institutions such as HQ IDS and the CDS have changed India's higher defence management. What challenges remain for achieving jointness?

For decades, India's higher defence management meant three separate Service headquarters, loosely coordinated by a Chiefs of Staff Committee. HQ Integrated Defence Staff (2001) and the Chief of Defence Staff (2019) have moved it from simple coordination towards integration. Full jointness at the theatre level, however, is still unfinished.

How HQ IDS and the CDS have changed the system

• A single military adviser: the CDS is a four-star officer. He is the Permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Principal Military Adviser to the Raksha Mantri on all tri-Service matters [1].
• Military officers inside the Ministry: the CDS also heads the new Department of Military Affairs as its Secretary. Its mandate is joint procurement, training and staffing, and restructuring commands [1].
• A joint staff hub: HQ IDS, headed by the CISC, does tri-Service planning and also represents India abroad, for example at Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025 [2]. Its officers are rising to top Service posts: Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit went from CISC to Vice Chief of the Air Staff [3].
• A legal base: the Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control & Discipline) Act, 2023 lets tri-Service commanders exercise authority over personnel of all three Services [4].
• Tested in operations: the CDS has called Op Sindoor a testament to tri-Service synergy [5].

Challenges that remain

• No theatre commands yet: Land Border, Maritime and Air Defence theatres are still being studied [4]. This means the 2023 Act has no theatre command to apply to yet.
• Separate Service cultures: the CDS has called for "Jointness 2.0", a shared joint culture that goes beyond goodwill between the Services [6].
• Redesigning roles: theatre commands would separate operations from Raise-Train-Sustain work [6]. This would reduce the Service Chiefs' role and needs all three Services to agree.
• Limited air assets: the IAF is cautious about dividing its scarce fighter and air-defence assets among several theatres.
• The multi-domain gap: bringing space and cyber in alongside land, sea and air, and moving from net-centric to data-centric warfare, needs common networks and data systems [6].

HQ IDS and the CDS have built the advisory, administrative and legal structure for jointness. What is still missing is theatre commands and a joint culture across the Services. A time-bound theatre roadmap agreed by all three Services, together with joint training and shared data systems, can turn the synergy seen in Op Sindoor into a lasting integrated, multi-domain force.