Lieutenant General Manoj Pande will take over as the next army chief on April 30, the defence ministry announced on Monday, with General Manoj Mukund Naravane set to complete his term on that date.
Pande, who is currently serving as the vice chief, will be the first officer from the Corps of Engineers, also known as sappers, to hold the top position. Officers from the sappers have served as army commanders and vice chiefs, but never held the army chief’s position. He will serve as army chief for more than two years. Service chiefs end their term after three years of service or when they turn 62, whichever is earlier.
Pande will take over as the army’s 29th chief at a time when India is working on a road map for the military’s theaterization to best utilize resources of the three services for future wars and operations, and when the country is caught in a lingering border row with China.
His appointment also comes at a time when indigenization of military hardware is the government’s top priority and military planners are assessing the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on India’s military preparedness as two-thirds of the country’s military equipment is of Soviet or Russian-origin.
