The landmark decision was taken during the recently concluded Combined Commanders’ Conference 2025 at the Eastern Command headquarters at Vijay Durg, formerly known as Fort William, in Kolkata.
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A day after the announcement to set up three joint military stations, a senior official confirmed that the locations will be selected in areas where the Army, Navy, and Air Force can be co-located and function jointly.
The landmark decision was taken during the recently concluded Combined Commanders’ Conference 2025 at the Eastern Command headquarters at Vijay Durg, formerly known as Fort William, in Kolkata. The three Joint Military Stations would help in further strengthening coordination and operational efficiency among the services.
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Speaking to The Statesman, the officer said that while the specific locations are yet to be decided, the stations will be identified in areas where the Army, Navy, and Air Force can operate together, advancing the goal of jointness and integration among the three services.
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“A joint military station essentially signifies the consolidation of Army, Navy, and Air Force resources pertaining to logistics, infrastructure, maintenance, repairs, supplies, and storage. This will help in better coordination to maximise efficiency in times of crises,” the officer said.
In recent times, the three services have already been working on increased integration amongst the tri-services, including cross-posting personnel, establishing joint logistics hubs, and aligning procurement, training, and staffing through coordinated planning and requirement integration.
Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had instructed the Ministry of Defence to swiftly implement concrete steps to achieve greater jointness between the armed forces of India in order to meet future challenges and to prevail against any eventuality.
When asked whether the three joint military stations would also serve as the proposed theatre commands, the officer clarified that they will not function as theatre commands.
It may be recalled that during the recently held Ran Samwad-2025 at the Army War College in Mhow, both the Naval Chief and Air Force Chief had presented conflicting opinions regarding the creation of theatre commands. While Admiral DK Tripathi had called for the roll-out of theatre commands as the “ultimate goal”, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh had cautioned against succumbing to pressure to implement something hastily, stressing that it should not be done merely for the sake of doing it.
Recently, Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi had also backed the creation of theatre command, stating that it is very important and is needed. “It is the answer to have unity of command. We need only one commander for execution, but have to see how much time is needed to get to ‘theatreisation’,” he had said.
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