Reforming higher defence easier said than done

Any assessment that the present system is archaic is right but hopes that it can be redeemed anytime soon are optimistic

In a lucid column published in this newspaper on July 13 titled “Still marching in the past” journalist and editor, Shekhar Gupta, has commented on the existing higher defence command structure in our country. He has correctly stated that what we have in 2018 is little different to what we had six decades ago even as the needs have changed and that 19 individual commands for the three armed services are hardly conducive to integrated management of the battlefield which modern warfare dictates. These criticisms cannot be brushed aside easily even as we should analyse why things are as they