The President of India is the supreme commander of the Indian defence system.
The whole administrative control of the Armed forces lies in the Ministry of Defence.
The Defence Minister (Raksha Mantri) is responsible to Parliament for all matters concerning defence of the country.Indian defence system has been divided into three services-
- Army
- Navy
- Air ForceThe Indian Army:
The Indian Army is the world’s second largest army in terms of military personnel.Army has its headquarters in New Delhi. It is head by Chief of the Army Staff (General) and assisted by the Vice-Chief of the Army Staff and seven other Principal Staff Officers, namely, two Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Ajutant General, Quarter Master General, Master General of Ordinance, Military Secretary and Engineer-in-Chief.
The Indian Army is organised into seven commands:-
- Western command Chandigarh
- Eastern command Kolkata
- Northern command 56 APO
- Southern command Pune
- Central command Lucknow
- Army Training Command Shimla
- South Western Command JaipurThe Indian Air Force:
The Indian Air Force was officially established on 8 October 1932. The first five pilots commissioned into the Indian Air Force were H C Sircar, Subroto Mukerjee, Bhupendra Singh, A B Awan and Amarjeet Singh. The Indian Air Force is headed by Chief of Air Staff (Air chief Marshal) with its headquarters at New Delhi. He is assisted by six Principal Staff Officers, Vice Chief of Air Staff, Deputy Chief of Air Staff, Air Officer Incharge Administration, Air Officer Incharge Maintenance, Air Officer Incharge Personnel and Training and Inspector General Flight Safety and Inspection.
Indian Air Force is organised into seven commands:-
- Western command New Delhi
- Central command Allahabad
- Eastern command Shillong
- South western command Jodhpur
- Training command Bangaluru
- Maintenance command Nagpur
- Southern command Thiruvananthapuram
The Indian Navy:
On 22 April 1958 V Adm RD Katari assumed office as the first Indian Chief of the Naval Staff. Indian Navy is headed by Chief of Navel Staff (Admiral) with headquarters at New Delhi. He is assisted by Vice Chief of Naval Staff, Chief of Personnel, Chief of Material and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff.
The Indian Navy is organised into following commands:-
- Eastern command Vishakhapatnam
- Southern command Kochi
- Western command Mumbai