“Seeking innovation and novelty”, Modi had called for the participation of personnel below officer rank in these meetings, which officials say could end up “diluting” the services command-and-control structure.

Chandigarh: The participation of personnel below officer rank (PBOR) in the ongoing Combined Commanders Conference (CCC) at Kevida in Gujarat, following a recent government directive, has been widely castigated as “disruptive, disturbing and uncalled-for” by serving and retired Indian military officers.

Many said such a move, reportedly at the behest of the Prime Minister’s Office or PMO which had mandated the attendance of junior commissioned and non-commissioned officers, and jawans at the two-day CCC, could eventually end up  “bypassing or diluting” the services long-nurtured and critical command-and-control structure.

“The CCC is an important annual event where inter-service synergy on national security issues is achieved through mutual consultation,” said Brigadier Rahul Bhonsle (retired) of the New Delhi-based Security Risks consultancy group.

The relevance of opening this up to PBORs needs careful consideration for obvious reasons, especially with regard to overall command structures, added Bhonsle one of the few retired officers commenting on this unexpected move involving PBORs, who is willing to be named.

Other veterans – and serving officers – were more forthright, but preferred to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals, either from the administration or the services or both. One former three-star Indian Army officer declared that India’s armed forces were not a “political party that called for all-cadre representation in its highest forum, and neither is it a panchayat”. It is a professional institution, developed over centuries with form, tradition and operational experience that is conditioned to operate in a hierarchical structure to fight wars, he declared.