In keeping with its aim of having a lean and mean military and bringing about increased cohesion among the three services, the government created the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) last year and installed Gen. Bipin Rawat. The next stage of higher defence reforms aims at the creation of joint commands which the CDS have been working on. Militaries worldwide have struggled to do that. The United States is a case in point. If militaries the world over have struggled to achieve jointness, it won't be a cakewalk in India. Getting the three forces---which have a history of working in silos---to work together is tough and voices of discontent have already surfaced. Comments by the Chief of Defence Staff that the air force is a support service of the army haven't helped either. In this episode of 'Defence mantra' on joint commands, StratNews Global Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale looks back at India's military history to see how the three services have functioned over the years.
Podcast Producer : Manas R. Tarai
