Officials familiar with the development said on Tuesday that some top-level appointments in the Indian Army are expected by the end of January to fill vacancies created by the upcoming retirements of the vice chief and the Northern Army commander, even as the Centre has yet to decide on the appointment of the next chief of defence staff (CDS) following the death of General Bipin Rawat in a helicopter crash last December.
While Lieutenant General Manoj Pande, the current Eastern Army commander, is set to take over as the next vice chief after Lieutenant General CP Mohanty retires on January 31, Lieutenant General Rana Pratap Kalita is expected to succeed him at the Kolkata-based Eastern Command, according to one of the officials who asked to remain anonymous. Kalita is currently assigned to Army Headquarters as a deputy chief.
Lieutenant General YK Joshi, the commander of the Northern Army, will retire on January 31. According to a second official, Joshi would be replaced by Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi. Dwivedi is also a deputy chief of staff at the army headquarters.
General Manoj Mukund Naravane, who is widely seen as the frontrunner for the CDS position, is set to retire on April 30. Pande will be a strong contender for the position of army chief.
Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari of the Indian Air Force and Admiral R Hari Kumar of the Indian Navy are both two years his junior. If the administration adopts the seniority concept, as previously stated, Naravane will almost certainly be named the next CDS.
Post Your Comments