NEW DELHI, April 25: India’s nuclear command and control system will be placed under a new strategic nuclear command (SNC) structure by June, The Hindustan Times reported on Thursday, quoting senior defence ministry sources.

“The SNC will be in place by June,” it quoted one source as saying. This development comes even as the 2,500km range Agni-II intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) is being inducted into a specially raised missile unit of the Indian army, the newspaper said.

The nuclear command will function under the integrated defence staff (IDS) setup. The first commander-in-chief of the SNC is likely to be from the Indian air force (IAF), “which had gone ballistic at the decision to hand over the Agni to the army,” the Times said.

The IAF has shortlisted Air Marshal T.M. Asthana, air officer commanding-in-chief southern air command, to head the country’s nuclear command.

“While the army has been allowed to raise an Agni missile group, the IAF and the navy have been asked to submit proposals for creating missile units,” a source told the newspaper.

As recommended by the Arun Singh Committee, an army strategic rocket command (ASRC) to handle surface-based nuclear weapons is also on the anvil. “An elaborate command and control structure for handling India’s nuclear arsenal has been worked out,” a top official confirmed.

The nuclear forces chief will report to the chairman of the chiefs of staff committee (COSC) until the chief of defence staff is appointed. The final authority on decisions regarding nuclear weapons will be the cabinet committee on security, headed by the prime minister, which will convey its orders to the chairman of the COSC (currently Gen S. Padmanabhan).

The air force has nursed ambitions of being the sole custodian of India’s nuclear assets, and when it was denied the pre-eminence it sought, had opposed the integration of higher defence management under the chief of defence staff.

The IAF believes that strategic targeting “hitting areas thousands of miles away” is an air force role. The air force brass believes that it is not a role that suits the army, which according to it “has a 40km perspective.”—JN