India's much-delayed plans to revamp its military are regaining momentum as Narendra Modi's government strengthens defence cooperation with the United States and its allies against China.

With Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga joining him at the White House on Friday, Modi is undertaking the biggest reorganization of India's military since independence in 1947. As the US and UK work with Australia to place more nuclear-powered submarines in Asia-Pacific waters, moves to integrate the army, air force, and navy, which operate with little coordination, are taking place.

The Indian Army unit overseeing the Pakistan border was ordered by a newly created department to develop plans to integrate with the navy and air force, officials familiar with the development reported last month.

A similar model will be replicated throughout the country so that the entire military has a new operating structure by 2024, according to the officials, who asked not to be identified due to rules governing media interviews. In the event of a conflict, a more unified Indian military would make it easier for it to work alongside the US and its allies. Interoperability in a range of areas of defence is a key aspect of the AUKUS partnership announced last week by the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom, something India currently lacks within its own forces.

“The Quad partners have previously found that they can only exercise with one Indian service at a time. For example, the navy but no air force, or air force but not navy,” said David Brewster, a senior research fellow at the National Security College of the Australian National University who wrote the book “India as an Asia Pacific Power.” “This severely hampers cooperation when many if not most operations will be joint.”

US Vice President Kamala Harris and US Secretary of State Morrison also met separately with Modi on Thursday in the US ahead of the Quad meeting at the White House. Indian officials noted in a tweet that US and India share "values." Through increased cooperation, they said.

To avoid coups that were once common in the neighbourhood, Indian leaders kept the military commands and controls divided for decades. Since the 1990s, bureaucrats and military officials have been against proposal for unification, largely due to turf wars. However, the existing structure is proving ineffective as China moved to a similar model in 2016.

“The modernization of the Indian military is underway to meet the regional challenges and technological changes,” A. Bharat Bhushan Babu, a Defence Ministry spokesperson, said without providing more details on the plan. The Indian Navy, Army, and Air Force didn’t comment immediately.

Image source: Hindustan Times