At the recent Combined Commanders’ Conference in Bhopal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called upon the three Services to gear up for new and emerging threats to national security and assured them that all steps are being taken to equip the Armed Forces with necessary weapons and technologies. During the conference, deliberations were held covering a wide spectrum of issues with respect to national security including evolving a Joint Military Vision for the future, cyber security, challenges of social media, Aatmanirbharta, absorption of Agniveers and measures to promote jointness.
CCC’s content and conduct have undergone a radical change since the Modi government came to power in 2014, one that hasn’t come without its share of controversies. What is the aim of this Conference? What reforms have been brought about, and what more can be done to refine its content and conduct?
What CCC stands for
The CCC is an annual event chaired by the Chief of Defence Staff. It is attended by the Chiefs and Vice Chiefs of Army/Air/Naval Staf, Army Commanders and equivalent of the three Services, Commanders of Andaman Nicobar Command and Strategic Forces Command, the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (who acts as the conference secretary), and any other special invitee.
The defence minister chairs and addresses a session in which Secretaries of the Ministry of Defence also participate. The conference culminates with the PM chairing and addressing the valedictory session, which all participants attend. The conference is pitched at the strategic level. It aims to bring tri-Service synergy on all national security issues, such as prevailing strategic and security environment, internal/external threats, national security and joint military strategies, transformation of the armed forces, defence preparedness, operational situations, Aatmanirbharta and defence production.
CCC is part of an ongoing execution process with respect to the politically approved National Security Strategy, Joint Military Strategy and Transformation Strategy with a committed long-term defence budget. Hence, the conference is primarily used to discuss macro-level issues in a free and frank manner. The political leadership also uses CCC to convey its focus areas directly to all senior commanders, apart from its institutionalised interaction with the CDS and the Service chiefs. It is also used to apprise the country about its national security status.
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CCC before 2014
The main drawback of our national security planning is that we do not have a National Security Strategy, a politically approved transformation strategy and a committed long-term defence planning budget. It is left to the armed forces to adopt a functional approach to planning. In the absence of a National Security Strategy, the Defence Minister’s Operational Directive, which itself was drafted by the armed forces and has not been reviewed since 2009, is broadly used as a reference point.
Thus, the entire planning process – including formulation of military and transformation strategies, tri-Service integration and Long-Term Integrated Perspective Plans – remains rudderless. The lack of a long-term forecast of the defence budget compounds the problem. Due to the limited defence budget, the three Services planned in isolation and turf wars were common, with the MoD acting as an arbitrator. With the above backdrop and up to 2014, CCC was more of a routine event. No tri-Service issues were discussed. The first two days were utilised for in-house respective Service discussions, and on the third day, a cosmetic tri-Service event was organised. Each Service chief made a brief presentation highlighting issues pertaining to his Service, while the chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee played no role. Ultimately, the PM addressed the conference based on a draft prepared by the Integrated Defence Staff.
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When CCC changed radically
True to his party’s ideology, Modi has always been committed to making India militarily strong. He is clear about the need for transformation of the armed forces, an approach that became evident from his valedictory address to the CCC on 17 October 2014. “Beyond the immediate, we are facing a future where security challenges will be less predictable; situations will evolve and change swiftly; and technological changes will make responses more difficult to keep pace with…Full-scale wars may become rare…and the duration of conflicts will be shorter,” he said. But the most important task, Modi further elaborated, was to transform India’s defence forces and focus on tri- Service integration to bring about jointness. To this end, he directed that each Service will host the conference by turn in different military locations.
Modi was a man in hurry; he expected the armed forces to begin the transformation with vigour. Armed forces are ‘status-quoist’ by nature, and inter-Service rivalry is deeply entrenched in military minds. Bureaucratic machinations of the MoD further compound this problem. The military hierarchy did not seize the opportunity to begin the reform process.
As a shrewd politician, Modi understood the military mind and exploited its inertia to assert his dominance. As per the grapevine, he admonished the hierarchy at the CCC 2015 held on board INS Vikramaditya for lack of progress. Thus, the CCC’s quality and content have changed radically since then. The three-day event was transformed into focused discussions on national security, self-reliance in defence and tri-Service integration. The updated conference was held in 2017 at the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun and in 2018 at the Air Force Station in Jodhpur. Inexplicably, no CCC was held in 2016.
It was only in the second term that Modi’s reform process actually took off. Two far-reaching changes were announced in 2019. The first was the appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff, followed by the integration of the three Services into theatre commands. The second reform was commitment, in letter and spirit, to Atmanirbharta in defence. This gave the CCC a new chairman – the CDS – and focused the conference’s content on these two critical aspects of transformation. Inexplicably, the government has not formalised a National Security Strategy, which is the starting point for all defence planning, despite the Defence Planning Committee under the National Security Advisor having been tasked to do so in 2018. This handicaps the entire planning process of the armed forces and thereby the content and conduct of the CCC.
Simultaneously, the government came to terms with the complex problems of military transformation. The defence budget cannot increase beyond two per cent of the GDP unless the latter increase exponentially. Self-reliance in defence is a compulsion. High military technology has changed the patterns of conflict. Nuclear weapon States do not fight full-scale wars. This influenced the discussions held in further editions of the CCC – from 4-6 March 2021 in Gujarat’s Kevadia under the shadow of the Statue of Unity and the recent one from 30 March to 1 April in Bhopal. No CCC was held in 2019, 2020 and 2022.
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Controversies around CCC
Never the one to miss the opportunity to exploit the military for political dividends, Modi, with his absolute dominance over the military hierarchy, has done the same with CCC. Holding CCC 2021 under the statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel – who has been adopted as a Bharatiya Janata Party icon – enhanced his strongman image. By design or default, the valedictory session of CCC 2023 was held at the Kushabhau Thakre (a BJP stalwart) International Convention Centre in Bhopal and not in the military station. Next to the ceremonial gate of the CCC was a giant cutout of Modi flanked by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. By all yardsticks, it was political exploitation of the armed forces in a state that goes to polls in November 2023.
Modi also used the CCC to assert himself over the armed forces’ hierarchy by directing change of innocuous military traditions to highlight the BJP’s ethos. In 2021 he picked on “colonial practices” of the armed forces, knowing fully well that the military was the first to shed them post-Independence except for minor ones, like the insignia of a few regiments, which are enmeshed with military ethos and valour. At CCC 2023, he highlighted the different messes of the three Services, using them as an indirect analogy to suggest that military heads were slow to execute tri-Service integration.
As a mass leader, it helps his image to identify with the military rank and file. Disregarding the military chain of command and its irrelevance in a strategic-level conference, he directed soldiers, sailors and airmen from the Army, Navy and Air Force to participate in CCC 2021 and 2023 on the pretext of grassroots feedback.
At CCC 2023, PM Modi also said that as more than two lakh military personnel go on leave every year, they should be going to the schools and colleges in their hometowns to spread the message of India rather than remaining confined to their kith and kin.
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The way forward
There is no doubt that Modi has reformed CCC and made its agenda more focused on its aim. However, the discussions are handicapped due to the lack of a politically owned, formalised and monitored transformation process. This needs a National Security Strategy and a politically owned transformation strategy with a committed long-term defence budget. The process must include a political directive with timelines, a steering committee for guidance and coordination, and a detailed execution plan. Once this is done, CCC will be able to focus more on progress to iron out differences in the transformation process.
Lastly, the CCC’s sanctity as the highest military forum dealing with national security must be maintained. It must not be politically exploited or trivialised.
Lt Gen H S Panag PVSM, AVSM (R), served in the Indian Army for 40 years. He was GOC in C Northern Command and Central Command. Post-retirement, he was Member of Armed Forces Tribunal. He tweets @rwac48. Views are personal.
(Edited by Zoya Bhatti)