India’s SFC without its chief for a month

ISLAMABAD: India's Strategic Forces Command, the entity that manages the Indian strategic and tactical nuclear weapons and decides the warheads' targets, has been without its chief for almost a month. 

A stalemate between the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force over who should take over the SFC has worsened this situation at a time when India is contemplating a military response to the Uri terror attack against the backdrop of a nuclear threat from Pakistan.

The Indian media has reported that the SFC is one of the three Tri-Services Commands (TSC), the other two being the Andamans & Nicobar Command (ANC) and the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS). The TSC comprises elements of the three defence services    Army, IAF and Navy. The three commands are headed by an officer from different services on a rational basis with a maximum tenure of about two years. Until now, the chief of the Integrated Defence Staff is the chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee. The HQ IDS is being controlled by an IAF officer while the SFC by a general and the ANC by a naval officer. This relation has ended. In the upcoming rotation, the Navy has to head the HQ IDS, the IAF is to take over the SFC and the army is expected to control the ANC. “The navy has been demanding retention of the ANC and their demand has received approval from the Centre. The IAF officer, who was heading the HQ IDS, is scheduled to retire in four to five months,” said an officer. 

The IAF has flagged its officers’ short tenure for the SFC heads position as the reason for its disinclination for the post as the normal tenure is two years, according to the official. The SFC is one of India’s top secret entities as its keeps crucial details of India’s nuclear weapons. The body hence appoints minimum people and ensures the tenure of two years. “The army is now at a stalemate. If it sends an army commander to head the SFC for four to five months, while the IAF officer managing the HQ IDS retires after this period, a situation shouldn’t arise thereafter wherein the IAF will start demanding taking over the SFC, in view of the rotation,” explained the official.

One of most viable options to break this stalemate could be that the army and the IAF both get an additional term in the SFC and the HQ IDS. The most likely replacement of Lt Gen Amit Sharma as head of the SFC is touted to be Lt Gen Rakesh Dua who has just finished commanding the Srinagar-based command 15 Corps. He is likely to get the seat of Lt Gen Amit Sharma. And ideally, Lt Gen Dua should be sent to the SFC, but this hasn’t happened so far, leaving India’s strategic assets without a head, says a high-level official. The issue has arisen against the backdrop of India’s arch rival Pakistan’s threat of using nuclear weapons in response to a conventional attack by India and the absence of an officer to manage India’s nuclear arsenal. 

Earlier this month, Pakistan Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said the country wouldn’t hesitate to use nuclear weapons if its security was under threat. Following the Uri attack, Azad Kashmir President Masood Khan said Pakistan was a strong nuclear state and any adventurism from India would result in its own failure. 

Defence experts feel that in a hypothetical situation, Pakistan will use tactical nuclear warheads of small range against Indian armed forces as its last resort. India, which believes in the concept of ‘second strike’, will then launch nuclear attacks on its adversary.