The Indian Army is an armed force.
The Indian Armed Forces ( Hindi ( in IAST ) : Bhāratīya Saśastra Sēnāēṃ ) are the military forces of the Republic of India . It consists of three professional uniformed services : the Indian Army , Indian Navy , and Indian Air Force . With strength of over 1.4 million active personnel , it is world 's 3rd largest military force and has the world 's largest volunteer army . The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces . The Indian National Army ( INA ; Azad Hind Fauj ) ; [ ˈɑːzɑːð_ˈhinð_ˈfɔːdʒ ] ( Lit : Free-Indian Army ) was an armed force formed by Indian nationalists in 1942 in Southeast Asia during World War II .