Chief of Defence Staff & Theatre Commands

The Kargil Review Committee of 1999, headed by K Subrahmanyam, recommended a review of India's national security framework, and a Group of Ministers recommended the post of Chief of Defence Staff in 2001. The Andaman & Nicobar Command was created on 8 October 2001, with Commanders-in-Chief drawn from the Army, Navy and Air Force. The Prime Minister announced the intention to create the post of CDS on 15 August 2019, and the Cabinet Committee on Security approved it on 24 December 2019. General Bipin Rawat assumed office as the first CDS on 1 January 2020.

Parliament passed the Inter-Services Organisation (Command, Control & Discipline) Bill in August 2023, and it received the President's assent on 15 August 2023. Personnel had been governed only by their own Service Acts, the Army Act 1950, the Navy Act 1957 and the Air Force Act 1950, so those facing disciplinary proceedings in inter-Service establishments were reverted to their parent Service units. The Act empowers the Commanders-in-Chief and Officers-in-Command of Inter-Services Organisations to exercise disciplinary and administrative powers over personnel of all three Services serving under them, without changing the Service Acts. It came into force on 10 May 2024, and with its Rules in effect from 27 May 2025 the Ministry of Defence said the Act was fully operational.

The CDS is a four-star officer who heads the Department of Military Affairs as its Secretary, is Permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee and acts as the Principal Military Adviser to the Raksha Mantri on all tri-Service matters. The three Service Chiefs continue to advise the Raksha Mantri on matters exclusively concerning their Services, and the CDS does not exercise military command, including over them. The CDS administers tri-Service organisations, is a member of the Defence Acquisition Council and functions as Military Adviser to the Nuclear Command Authority. The Department's subjects include the Army, Navy and Air Force and the restructuring of military commands, including through the establishment of joint/theatre commands; the work of 23 sections and around 160 civilian officers and staff moved to it from the Department of Defence.

Integrated theatre commands have not yet been formed. Declaring 2025 the Year of Reforms, the Ministry of Defence said reforms should facilitate the establishment of Integrated Theatre Commands, and a PIB backgrounder of 18 May 2025 said studies at Service Headquarters were exploring theatre commands for land borders, the maritime domain and joint/integrated air defence. In its Year End Review of 31 December 2025, the Ministry listed 197 initiatives to enhance jointness and integration, eight new Joint Doctrines/Manuals and five functioning Joint Services Training Institutes. On 1 June 2026, a day after General NS Raja Subramani took charge as the third CDS, it described the Andaman & Nicobar Command as India's only Tri-Service Operational Command.

24 Dec 2019 CDS post and Department of Military Affairs approved. 1 Jan 2020 first CDS takes office. 3 Joint Logistics Nodes operational since 2021, with 4 more in process (Dec 2023). 27 May 2025 Rules under the Inter-Services Organisations Act take effect. 197 jointness and integration initiatives identified (Dec 2025). 31 May 2026 third CDS takes charge. Sources: Ministry of Defence via PIB; PIB backgrounders; Gazette of India.