The defence ministry announced on Monday that Lieutenant General Manoj Pande will take over as the next army chief on April 30 after the retirement of General Manoj Mukund Naravane. Pande is currently the senior-most officer in the army after Naravane.
Pande will be the first officer from the Corps of Engineers, also known as sappers to hold the top position and serve as the army chief for over two years. The sappers’ officers have served as army commanders and vice chiefs, but never held the position of army chief.
Lt Manoj C Pande had commanded an engineer regiment during Operation Parakram in the Pallanwala sector along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
Spokesperson Ministry of Defence took to the microblogging website, Koo, “The government has appointed Lt Gen Manoj C Pande, presently Vice Chief of the Army Staff, as the next Chief of the Army Staff with effect from the afternoon of April 30, 2022.”
