New Delhi: The recently-approved tri-services special forces division will be initially raised with 1,200 commandos from the Army, Navy and the Air Force who will be used for carrying out counter-terrorist and across-the-border operations.

Recently, during the combined commanders' conference, it was announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had approved of the creation of three new agencies for the armed forces to handle cyber, space and special forces operations after the demand was first made by the services during the UPA era.

Also read: Prime Minister Modi approves new cyber, special forces, space divisions for armed forces

"The special forces division will be headed by a major general-rank officer and will initially have two battalions of Indian Army's para (special forces) battalions along with one unit each of the Indian Air Force's Garud commandos and Navy's marine commandos (MARCOS)," a senior government source told MyNation.

The Indian Army has the biggest pool of special forces with around 10 battalions that are deployed in various parts of the country including counter-terrorist operations in Jammu and Kashmir and states of the Northeast.

The battalions will be attached with the division on a rotational basis. They will carry out operations as per the orders of the tri-services headquarters.

The headquarters of the special forces division will be created outside the national capital. It will be manned by officers and men from the special forces who have suffered injuries during operations or training.

"All the three services have large numbers of such officers and men who have suffered injuries. They would be in a better position to provide support to the force operating on the ground. Their experiences would also be better utilised," a senior Army officer said. 

The other two divisions, including space and cyber, will be headquartered in the capital.