Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pande: The central government has granted Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pande, the Chief of the Army Staff, a one-month extension. Pande was scheduled to retire on May 31.
On May 26, the Appointments Committee of Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, gave its approval for Gen. Pande’s tenure to be extended. Since the extension extends past his typical age of superannuation, the action is unprecedented. As of right now, Gen. Pande will lead the Army until June 30, 2024. The action was conducted, according to the Ministry of Defence, in compliance with Army Regulations 1954, Rule 16 A (4).
There is a lot of conjecture around Gen. Pande’s tenure extension. The incoming Chief of Staff (COAS) is usually appointed and publicized at least one week in advance of the outgoing COAS’s retirement.
General Pande replaced General Manoj Mukund Naravane as the 29th Chief of Staff on April 30, 2022.
The Print says that after getting his commission in December 1982, he was Vice Chief of Staff in the Corps of Engineers (The Bombay Sappers) before becoming Chief of Staff of the Army. General Pande was the first member of the Corps of Engineers to take over as Army Chief.
It was expected that Vice Chief Gen. Upendra Dwivedi would become COAS due to the seniority of Army leaders.
Lt Gen Ajai Kumar Singh, Commander of the Southern Army, and Lt Gen N.S. Raja Subramani, Commander of the Central Army, is among the others involved in the conflict.
However, any Army commander of the Indian Army’s seven operationally separated commands is eligible to succeed the chief under the guidelines.
It’s interesting to note that General Singh and General Dwivedi are classmates. In contrast, Gen. Dwivedi is more senior due to commissioning seniority, which is based on military academy graduation. On June 30, both are scheduled to retire.
During his more than 40-year military career, Gen. Pande held staff and command positions in a variety of operational settings, including the command of an Engineer Brigade in the Western Theatre as part of Strike Corps, an Infantry Brigade in Jammu and Kashmir along the Line of Control, a Mountain Division in the High Altitude Area of Western Ladakh, and the command of a Corps stationed along the Line of Actual Control and in the Eastern Command area responsible for Counter Insurgency Operations.
