In an unusual move, Govt extends tenure of Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande by one month

Extension of Gen Pande’s tenure comes amid intense speculation. He will now serve as Army Chief until 30 June even as the extension goes beyond his normal age of superannuation.

Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj Pande | File photo | ANI

New Delhi: Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj Pande, who was set to retire on 31 May, has been granted a one-month extension by the central government.

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved the extension of the tenure of Gen Pande on 26 May. The move is unusual as it comes even as the extension goes beyond his normal age of superannuation. Gen Pande will now serve as Army Chief until 30 June 2024. According to the Ministry of Defence, the step has been taken in accordance with Rule 16 A (4) of the Army Rules 1954.

The extension of Gen Pande’s tenure comes amid intense speculation. Usually, the appointment of the next Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) is announced at least a week ahead of the retirement of the one currently holding office.

Gen Pande had taken over as the 29th Chief of the Army Staff on 30 April 2022 from General Manoj Mukund Naravane.

He was commissioned in December 1982 in the Corps of Engineers (The Bombay Sappers) and held the appointment of Vice Chief of the Army Staff before taking over as the COAS. Gen Pande was the first officer from the Corps of Engineers to take over as Army Chief.

Based on the seniority of Army commanders, Vice Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi was likely to take over as COAS.

Others, who are in the fray, include Lt Gen Ajai Kumar Singh, Southern Army Commander and Lt Gen N.S. Raja Subramani, Central Army Commander.

According to the rules, however, any Army commander of the seven operationally divided commands of the Indian Army, can take over as the chief.

Interestingly, Lt General Dwivedi and Lt General Singh are batchmates. However, Gen Dwivedi is senior in comparison, owing to the commissioning seniority, which is decided depending on their graduation from the military academy. Both are set to retire on 30 June.

Gen Pande’s military career, spanning over four decades, included command and staff appointments in different operational environments — command of an Engineer Brigade in the Western Theatre, as part of Strike Corps, an Infantry Brigade along Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, a Mountain Division in the High Altitude Area of Western Ladakh and command of a Corps, deployed along the Line of Actual Control and in Counter Insurgency Operations area of Eastern Command.

(Edited by Mannat Chugh)