After getting clearance from the Cabinet Committee on appointment, the government announced him as the successor to General VK Singh on Saturday.
Putting an end to uncertainty, the government has announced that the present Eastern Army Commander Lieutenant General Bikram Singh will be appointed the next Army chief. After getting clearance from the Cabinet Committee on appointment, the government announced him as the successor to General VK Singh on Saturday.
Lieutenant General Singh will take charge of the top Army post on May 31 - the day that the current Army Chief General VK Singh is scheduled to retire. General VK Singh had been embroiled in a controversy with the ministry of defence over his date of birth and even took the government to the Apex Court over it. But, on the directions of Supreme Court, General Singh withdrew his petition.
Lt. General Bikram Singh was selected from the shortlist panel of the three senior-most officers - Eastern Army Commander Lieutenant General Bikram Singh, Army Vice-Chief Lieutenant General Shri Krishna Singh, and Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General KT Parnaik, for the top post.
However, General Bikram Singh’s name has also figured in connection with an alleged fake encounter in Kashmir. Morever, questions were posed over the issue of his daughter -in-law being a Pakistani nation. But, later on it was clarified that she is a US citizen, and not a Pakistani national. As per the normal practice, the appointment of Chiefs of Defence Services is announced 60 days in advance, but in this case, the government made the announcement 90 days in advance.
According to an official release from the ministry of defence, Lieutenant General Bikram Singh was commissioned into the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment on 31 March 1972. During his long and distinguished career, spanning nearly 40 years, he served in a variety of Command and Staff appointments, besides commanding a Corps in the Northern Command. The General had served as Deputy Force Commander of a multi-nation UN Peace Keeping Mission in Congo. He had also served as UN Observer in Nicaragua and El Salvador during the early ‘90s. Lieutenant General Bikram Singh has studied with distinction at the Defence Services Staff College, the Army War College and the US Army War College, Pennsylvania.
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