The three forces- Indian Army , Air Force and Navy- have been asked to ready itself for future wars. After assessing future and immediate threats during the first Defence Planning Committee meeting, it was suggested that the flab be reduced and forces restructured.

Defence Planning Committee is a newly formed apex body headed by the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, comprising Secretary Defence, Foreign Secretary and Secretary Expenditure and the three service chiefs. The committee met for the first time on Thursday.

The forces have been told to "evolve a plan which enables the budget to be balanced while planning for future wars," top officials aware of the development told India Today.

The new body which effectively rules out the formation of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) is a brain child of Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra. It aims to give more powers to forces to decide on future requirements, cut red-tape, bring about much-needed synergy and missing joint manship within the three forces.

The committee is the first of its kind that India has seen. Apart from bringing in the three forces, inclusion of the expenditure arm of the government ensures better prioritisation and utilisation of limited resources.

Increasing the "tooth to tail" ratio - a ratio between the fighting and non combats in the military has been of concern for long. Several committees have looked into this aspect leading to scrapping of archaic concepts like having military farms and a dedicated postal service.

The Indian Army, the largest of the three forces , in particular however, is of the view that cutting down man-power isn't possible given the functions and load an individual soldier carries out and bears.

Apart for getting the forces to define and devise a response to emerging a future and large part of the current exercise is also aimed at better utilization of resources.

India's Defence budget adds to about 12 per cent of the entire budget of the country and of the total money the country spent on capital projects, about 33 per cent goes to Defence.

Revenue or recurring expenditure incurred for Defence for maintaining the armed forces has been continuously increasing.

Apart from this, the Committee also discussed the emerging geo-strategic situation and the immediate neighbourhood.

Also read: Budget squeeze threatens Indian Army's preparedness for possible two-front war