NEW DELHI: The Indian Army and the Indian Navy on Thursday inked a Memorandum of Association (MoA) on Affiliation, formalising a framework for structured cooperation between the Army’s formations and establishments and naval ships and commands amid the military’s broader push towards greater jointness and integrated war fighting.
Unlike a conventional Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the affiliation-based MoA seeks to institutionalise long-term linkages between Army and Navy units and establishments through structured professional exchanges, joint activities and operational familiarisation.
According to the Army, the framework aims to strengthen “inter-service cooperation”, “operational cohesion” and “enduring professional camaraderie” between formations, regiments, institutions, establishments and ships of the two Services.
The agreement also comes a year after Operation Sindoor, which saw a visible demonstration of tri-service coordination across land, sea and air domains.
During the hostilities with Pakistan, the Navy maintained forward deployment and maritime deterrence in the Arabian Sea, while the Army and Air Force coordinated ground and air defence operations, underlining the growing emphasis on integrated operational planning.
The Army’s statement referred to Operation Sindoor as an example of the importance of integration, saying that “coordinated efforts of the three Services contributed to remarkable operational success.”
The pact comes as the defence ministry examines proposals for three integrated theatre commands, with the maritime command expected to be led by the Navy, the northern by the Army and the western by the Air Force, under the broader CDS-led theaterisation process. The proposals are currently being vetted before eventual political clearance and phased implementation.
The statement also underlined the changing nature of warfare, pointing that future operations would increasingly require “rapid decision-making, cross-domain coordination and interoperable capabilities”.