Gen Manoj Pande takes charge as Army chief

Before taking charge as vice chief of the Army on February 1, Gen Pande was heading the Eastern Army Command, tasked with guarding the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh sectors.

Gen Pande took charge of the Army at a time India is facing myriad security challenges, including along the borders with China and Pakistan.

Newly appointed Gen Manoj Pande with Gen MM Naravane. (Twitter/@adgpi)

As the Army chief, he will also have to coordinate with the Navy and the Indian Air Force on the government’s plan to roll out theatre commands.

The theaterisation plan was being implemented by India’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Bipin Rawat who died in a helicopter crash in December last. The government is yet to appoint Gen Rawat’s successor.

In his distinguished career, Gen Pande also served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command (CINCAN), which is India’s only tri-services command.

General Manoj Pande, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC takes over as the 29th #COAS of #IndianArmy from General MM Naravane.

जनरल मनोज पांडे, परम विशिष्ट सेवा मेडल, अति विशिष्ट सेवा मेडल, विशिष्ट सेवा मेडल, ऐड डि कैंप ने जनरल एम एम नरवणे से #भारतीयसेना के 29वें #सेनाध्यक्ष का पदभार संभाला। pic.twitter.com/Mphsz1pvrP

— ADG PI – INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) April 30, 2022

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An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, he was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers (The Bombay Sappers) in December 1982.
Gen Pande has held several prestigious command and staff assignments in conventional as well as counter-insurgency operations in all types of terrain.

He commanded an engineer regiment along the Line of Control during the Operation Parakram in Jammu and Kashmir, an engineer brigade in the western sector, an infantry brigade along LoC and a mountain division in high-altitude area of western Ladakh and a corps in the Northeast.

His staff exposures include Brigade Major of a Mountain Brigade in the Northeast, Assistant Military Secretary (AMS) in the Military Secretary’s Branch and Brigadier General Staff (Operations) at the Eastern Command headquarters.