The I Corps is a military field formation of the Indian Army. The Corps is headquartered at Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. It was raised on 1 April 1965. It was still being raised when it was despatched to the front in 1965. Raised as the First Strike Corps of the Indian Army, it was launched into operations in the Sialkot sector. The Corps conducted a counteroffensive during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. In the 1971 war against Pakistan, it took part in the Battle of Basantar.
The corps conducts Exercise Parvat Prahaar (Mountain Strike) to maintain combat readiness in the northern sector along Line of Actual Control. The exercise which is conducted in high-altitude, rugged terrain conditions, includes tanks, artillery (including K-9 Vajra T), air-defence systems and other assets. The editions of the exercise are 2022 and 2024.
Under Lt. Gen. K. K. Singh during 1971, the composition of the corps was:
In 2021, the Strike One Corps was shifted to Northern Command from the South Western Command to focus on Sino-Indian border in Ladakh. According to reports, around 500 main battle tanks and 50,000 troops are deployed in Eastern Ladakh region.
The I Corps created in 1965 and headquartered at Mathura, consists of the following formations:
The following were moved to direct command of South Western Command