General Manoj Pande takes charge as Army chief, first engineer to helm force

General Manoj Pande took charge as the 29th Chief of the Army Staff on Saturday after incumbent Gen MM Naravane retired from service.

Gen Pande, who was serving as vice chief at the time, became the force's first officer from the Corps of Engineers.

Gen Pande was the Chief of the Eastern Army Command, which was entrusted with protecting the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh sectors until taking over as deputy chief of the Army on February 1.

Gen Pande assumed command of the Army at a time when India is grappling with a slew of security issues, notably along its borders with China and Pakistan.

He would have to collaborate with the Navy and the Indian Air Force on the government's plan to roll out theatre commands as Army chief.

India's first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen Bipin Rawat, who died in a helicopter crash in December last year, was in charge of the theaterization plan. Gen Rawat's successor has yet to be named by the government.

Gen Pande also served as the Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command (CINCAN), India's only tri-services command, during his remarkable career.

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 a number of notable command and staff positions in both conventional and counter-insurgency operations in a variety of environments.

During Operation Parakram in Jammu and Kashmir, he led an engineer regiment along the Line of Control, an engineer brigade in the western sector, an infantry brigade along the LoC, a mountain division in the high-altitude territory of western Ladakh, and a corps in the northeast.

Brigade Major of a Mountain Brigade in the Northeast, Assistant Military Secretary (AMS) in the Military Secretary's Branch, and Brigadier General Staff (Operations) in the Eastern Command headquarters are among his staff positions.

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