Air Chief Marshal AP Singh on Saturday said the Indian Air Force (IAF) was “not against” carving out geographically defined operational joint commands for the armed forces. He, however, cautioned against implementing something that is “pre-baked” and “picked up” from another country’s model.The IAF Chief’s stance is the first official statement since former Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, before demitting office in May this year, submitted a collective proposal on behalf of the armed forces to carve out such “joint commands”, referred to by the military as “theatre commands”.“The idea should be to have a graded, step-wise approach to avoid disruption of operations,” the IAF Chief said while speaking at the Air Vice Marshal Harjinder Singh (retd) Memorial Lecture hosted by the Air Force Association in Kanpur. The association is a body of retired IAF officers.The IAF Chief said a step-wise transition would ensure minimal disruption, noting that the military cannot afford to shake up the system at a time when the operational tempo remains high.Though the IAF Chief did not mention it, a key issue will be the division of IAF assets. Some of these strategic assets could be controlled from Delhi to ensure seamless operations across the theatres.Air Chief Marshal Singh stressed the importance of identifying actual shortcomings and building a structure tailored to India’s specific security needs.Cautioning against adopting imported military models, he said: “The Air Force has been insisting that we should look at it objectively. Look at what is it that is ailing us; we need to fix what is not right with us, and not have something that is pre-baked, picked up from somewhere and used.”On the way forward, the IAF Chief suggested the need for a structure tailored to India’s requirements. “We need to form an organisation chart in a manner that we need. Some other country may have some different requirements.”At IAF headquarters, there is a “composite team” looking into the matter. The setting up of theatre commands is under discussion at the highest level. “I am sure the government, whenever a decision is taken, will take the right decision based on all the inputs that are given to the government,” he added.“Theatre commands” is military jargon for creating geographically defined areas of operation, with a military commander heading each command and controlling war-fighting assets such as aircraft, helicopters, guns, tanks, equipment and manpower.The proposed theatre commands for the Indian armed forces comprise three distinct entities. The Western Theatre Command, focused on Pakistan, will be headed by an Indian Air Force (IAF) officer, while the Northern Theatre Command, focused on China, will have an Army officer as its head. The Maritime Theatre Command, as expected, would be headed by a Navy officer.