About the Book

In 2023, the Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Act was passed in the Indian Parliament, thereby liberating the monolithic organisations of the army, navy and air force from its silos. The idea of theatre command was first operationalised towards the end of WWI in 1919. In WWII, all nations that participated had organised their militaries in theatre-based joint unified commands. Today, thirty nations have reformed their militaries to follow this model. In India, while the ‘thought process’ began in the 1950s, and came under review both after India’s spectacular victory over Pakistan in 1972, and later after the Kargil War, the ball was set rolling only in 2019 by the first Chief of Defence Staff, the Late General Bipin Rawat. Parliament passed the Act in 2023. The book covers the background, India’s journey, global military reforms and India’s ancient history on how the three services can work together.

About the Author

Brig (Dr) Ashok Pathak, a decorated veteran of the Corps of Signals, has served on India’s Eastern borders, the Northeast, Punjab, and with the Indian Peacekeeping Force in Sri Lanka. A former UN military observer in Angola and faculty at the Army War College, Mhow, he earned his PhD in Information Warfare in 1999. A prolific writer on geopolitics, military science, and national security, his works feature in esteemed think tanks like VIF and CLAWS. He is the author of India’s Strategies for Information War & Cyber Deterrence. Currently, he is a management consultant with SLR Metaliks in Hospet, Karnataka.