By Dalip Singh

Copyright thehindubusinessline

Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi has once again reiterated his firm support for the government’s proposed theaterisation of the armed forces, stating that control over land remains the “currency of victory” in the Indian strategic context.

This marks the second time in three days that the Army Chief has spoken in favour of theaterisation, underscoring the Indian Army’s continued backing of the long-debated structural reform in national defence architecture.

General Dwivedi’s reaffirmation comes amidst ongoing public discourse triggered by Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, who recently cautioned against a rushed implementation of jointness among the three services.

At a tri-service seminar on military affairs held at the Army War College, Mhow, last month, the Air Force Chief proposed the creation of a Joint Planning and Coordination Centre in New Delhi instead — a more measured approach to integration, aimed at improving synergy among the Army, Navy, and Air Force.

At the same event, Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh K. Tripathi supported the concept of theaterisation, stating that the Indian Navy is committed to integrating its command-and-control, communications, and combat capabilities with the other two services.

Speaking at the 52nd National Management Convention of the All India Management Association (AIMA) on Tuesday, General Dwivedi made a forceful case for land dominance in India’s security calculus.

“In India, since we have two-and-a-half-front threats, land will remain the currency of victory,” he said.

To reinforce his point, he referenced a recent geopolitical event.

“When you go back to the Alaska conference that took place between the two presidents, they just discussed how much land has to change hands,” he said, in an apparent reference to August 15 meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to end Russia-Ukraine war.

The long-pending issue of theaterisation is expected to come up for deliberations at the Combined Commanders Conference, to be held in Kolkata from September 15. The three-day event will see presence of the top military leadership of the country, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address the commanders on the second day of the meet.

Transformation efforts

General Dwivedi also elaborated on the Indian Army’s ongoing transformation efforts to keep pace with the evolving nature of warfare, highlighting the importance of aatmanirbharta in defence technology.

“The goalposts will keep changing. If we want something to fire at 100 km, tomorrow it will have to go 300 km, because it’s not just us, but the adversary too, that is enhancing its technology. My technology must outpace theirs,” he remarked.

Citing recent operational success, the Army Chief shared insights into Operation Sindoor, where indigenous innovations proved decisive.

“We used the Shambhav phone, which was very critical in Operation Sindoor. We weren’t using WhatsApp or other platforms. This indigenous system provided intelligence and operational pictures to all commanders. Now, we’re upgrading it even further.”

Similarly, he spoke about ongoing advancements in software-defined radios and other military tech, underscoring the Army’s readiness for spiral development — a concept of continuously evolving capabilities.

The military has to do the handholding because tech demand is soaring for combat readiness, he stressed as well.

General Dwivedi noted, “There has to be spiral creation of organisations. Industry says it doesn’t know how much we will buy, so we’ve created organisations for that.”

Published on September 9, 2025