The Army is converting its Headquarters Uttar Bharat (HQ UB) area into a full-fledged operational corps — a move that will shift its focus towards operations along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) from its current responsibility of peacetime duties.
Indian Army To Set Up New Corps For Operations Along LAC
The Army is converting its Headquarters Uttar Bharat (HQ UB) area into a full-fledged operational corps — a move that will shift its focus towards operations along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) from its current responsibility of peacetime duties. Based in Bareilly, the HQ UB area is currently a static formation looking after peacetime locations and training establishments of Uttarakhand and western Uttar Pradesh, in addition to the LAC running along Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand — also referred to as the central theatre.
A corps comprises elements of all arms and services with adequate reserves to carry out operations in its area of responsibility. It is structured to hold three divisions but can hold more or less as per existing operational requirements. Each division comprises 15,000 to 18,000 troops. According to a source within the Army, the final approval for this transformation is pending. The new corps, likely to be designated as the 18 Corps, will bridge the gap between the 14 Corps stationed in Ladakh and the 33 Corps based in West Bengal.
Earlier, the UB area had only one brigade and a few scouts’ battalions under it to patrol key border areas. But considering frequent face-offs with Chinese troops at certain disputed points along the LAC and an enhanced focus on dominating the border, the formation was gradually upgraded, and its combat capability increased by putting three independent brigades and an infantry division based in Uttarakhand under it. While a combatised area HQ has fighting elements, a traditional corps has additional artillery brigades, engineering brigades and other logistics components.
The newly reconstituted corps will have all the troops and equipment from other arms and services such as artillery, engineers and aviation, among others, under its direct command to successfully conduct operations in the central theatre.
Indian Army’s Plan to Counter China
This initiative is part of the Army’s ongoing efforts to reinforce its presence across all sectors along the LAC. Since the escalation of tensions with China in May 2020, additional formations have been deployed in the western, middle, and eastern sectors. For instance, the Mathura-based 1 Strike Corps was redirected from its previous role on the western front with Pakistan to the LAC.
