J&K to get separate theatre command

Tribune News Service

Jammu, February 18

As part of a massive restructuring of the armed forces, a new theatre command for Jammu and Kashmir is planned to fight as a cohesive unit against the threat posed by Pakistan and China and deal with the internal security challenges.

Once implemented, the plan aims at putting units of the Air Force, Navy and the Army under a common commander who would be responsible for the operation within his theatre.

Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, who recently announced the theaterisation of commands in the country on the pattern of the United States and China, has not revealed the contours of the plan for J&K but defence sources said there would be restructuring of the Northern Command and the 14th and 15th Corps, which look after the defence in the Union Territory of Ladakh and the internal security situation in the Kashmir valley, respectively.

A dedicated theatre command will be a major revamp of the existing structures in Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu and Kashmir shares the volatile 198-km International Border with Pakistan which passes through the undulating flatland of Jammu.