 |
| Indian Army soldier involved in a counter-terrorism operation |
By Vivek Raghuvanshi
NEW DELHI — Lack of agreement on who would control a separate Indian Special Forces Command (SFC) has stymied creation of the unit despite the military's urgent desire for one.
Army officers said that Defence Ministry bureaucrats do not want to relinquish control of the SFC to the defense forces, while MoD bureaucrats claim inter-service rivalry regarding control of the SFC is the primary problem.
The Jan. 2 terrorist attack on an Indian Air Force base at Pathankot near the Pakistan border has opened a fresh case for establishing an SFC.
Whereas a special committee, the Naresh Chandra Committee, set up by the MoD strongly recommended a Special Forces Command in 2013, the previous government left the decision to the new government. However, the new government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi remains non-committal on the issue, said Nitin Mehta, a defense analyst.
Read the full story at DefenseNews