Lt General Pande Named New Vice-Chief Ahead Of A Top Brass Reshuffle In The Army

Vishal Thapar Jan 19, 2022

While there’s still no decision on the appointment of the new Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), the Government has commenced the process of making a string of key appointments in the upper echelons of the Army which paves the way for a clear line of succession in the service.

In fact, it restores the succession chain which was getting blurred in the present circumstances created by the aftermath of the tragic December 8 death of CDS General Bipin Rawat in which the incumbent Army Chief, General MM Naravane was seen as the frontrunner for CDS.

While this may not be the only reason for the unexplained delay in naming a new CDS, an early appointment of the frontrunner was certain to upset the applecart for the Army top brass. An elevation of the serving Army Chief to CDS would also necessitate simultaneous appointment of a new Army Chief, and an early decision on the new CDS would have put two high-profile retiring generals CP Mohanty and YK Joshi in the fray for the top Army job.

But the continuing delay in naming the new CDS looks certain to lead to the retirement of Mohanty and YK Joshi, the Army’s senior-most Lt Generals, on January 31 upon reaching the age of 60, thus putting them out of contention for promotion to Army Chief. Lt General Joshi is a decorated Kargil War hero who is leading the Indian Army’s resolute response to Chinese aggression in Eastern Ladakh over the last two years in his current role as the Northern Army Commander.

On January 18, the Government is reported to have approved the appointment of Lt General Manoj Pande as the next Vice-Chief of Army Staff. Currently the Eastern Army Commander, he will take over from Lt General Mohanty as Vice-Chief on January 31 upon the latter’s retirement from service.

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Lt General Pande will be the senior-most Army officer after General Naravane following the retirement of Lt General Mohanty on January 31. This will put Lt General Pande on top of the line of succession to the post of Army Chief. General Naravane is scheduled to retire on April 30.

A rejig in the Army top brass will precede the appointment of the new Army Chief.

This simultaneous retirements of Lt Generals Mohanty and Joshi, and the movement of Lt General Manoj Pande from the Eastern Command to Army Headquarters will create vacancies for the Army’s top two operational commanders who are responsible for the defence of the Northern and Eastern sectors of the Line of Actual Control with China.

The buzz in the Army grapevine is that Lt Generals Upendra Dwivedi and RP Kalita are awaiting approval of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet for being named the Northern and Eastern Army Commanders respectively.

Lt General Pande, the Vice-Chief-designate, is from the Corps of Engineers, which makes him a rarity in the Army top brass which is dominated by Infantry officers. Should be make it to Chief on May 1 or earlier, he will be the first from the Corps of Engineers to make it to four-star rank in the Indian Army.

Commissioned as an officer in the Bombay Sappers in December 1982, Lt General Pande, before heading the Eastern Army, has commanded a Corps deployed along the LAC in the North-East, a Mountain Division in Western Ladakh and an Infantry Brigade along the Line of Control (LoC) besides an Engineers Brigade in a Strike Corps.

He took an active part in Operation Vijay in Kargil in 1999 and Operation Parakram in 2001-02, which involved mobilisation for war after the attack on the Indian Parliament by Pakistan-led terrorists.

In the course of his distinguished military career, Lt General Pande has served as Chief Engineer to UN forces in their Mission in Ethiopia &Eritrea. He has also attended the National Defence College, the Higher Command Course, and the UK Staff College at Camberley.

His appointment as the Vice-Chief is an indication that he has emerged unscathed from last month’s tragic shooting of innocent civilians in Nagaland by the Army special forces in a case of mistaken identity. The General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Command is the top operational commander of the Indian Army in the North-East.