The ministry on Monday appointed Lieutenant General Manoj Mukund Naravane, the seniormost officer after Rawat, as Vice-Chief of the Indian Army
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has laid out a succession plan for the post of the next Indian Army chief after General Bipin Rawat, who is currently commanding the force, retires on December 31 this year.
The ministry on Monday appointed Lieutenant General Manoj Mukund Naravane, the seniormost officer after Rawat, as Vice-Chief of the Indian Army. He is eventually "expected to become the next Army chief".
Naravane, who is currently Eastern Army commander, will replace Lieutenant General D Anbu, who retires earlier on August 31. Navarane was commissioned into the 7th Battalion The Sikh Light Infantry in June 1980. "In 39 years of illustrious service, he served in peace, field and highly active counter-insurgency environments in the North East, Jammu and Kashmir and also as part of the Indian Peacekeeping Force in Sri Lanka. He has commanded a Rashtriya Rifles Battalion in Jammu and Kashmir and an Infantry Brigade on the Eastern Front," said a senior Ministry official.
Naravane has also been the Inspector General, Assam Rifles (North) at Nagaland, commanded a prestigious Strike Corps of the Indian Army and was the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Army Training Command.
As Naravane becomes Vice-Chief, Lieutenant General Anil Chauhan replaces him to become the new Eastern Command chief. Chauhan currently holds the charge of Director General Military Operations and has held the command of the 3 Corps. He has also led the operations along the Pakistan border post-Balakot airstrikes.
On the other side, Lieutenant General RP Singh will be heading the Chandimandir-based Western Command, replacing Lieutenant General Surinder Singh, who retires on July 31.
Additionally, Lieutenant General AS Kler will be heading the Jaipur-based South-Western Command, replacing Lieutenant General Cherish Matheson, who retires on August 31. The Lucknow-based Central Command will now be headed by Lieutenant General I S Ghuman who will replace Lieutenant General Abhay Krishna, who retires on September 30.
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