New Delhi: The 29th Army Chief will be the first officer from the Corps of Engineers to become the head of the Indian Army. Lieutenant General Manoj Pande was, on Monday, April 18, appointed as the next Chief of the Indian Army. He will succeed Gen. Manoj Mukund Naravane, who is scheduled to complete his 28-month tenure on April.30.
“General MM Naravane #COAS & All Ranks of #IndianArmy congratulate Lieutenant General Manoj Pande #VCOAS on being appointed as the 29th Chief of the Army Staff #COAS of the #IndianArmy. Lt Gen Manoj Pande will assume the appointment of #COAS on May 01 2022,” the Army tweeted.
An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Lt Gen Manoj Pande was commissioned in December 1982 in the Corps of Engineers (The Bombay Sappers). Pande had taken over as vice chief of army staff on February 01, 2022.
Lt. General Manoj Pande commanded an engineer regiment during Operation Parakram in the Pallanwala sector along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
In his 39-year military career, Lt. Gen Pande has commanded an engineer brigade in the western theatre, an infantry brigade along LoC, a mountain division in the Ladakh sector and a corps in the northeast.
He was the Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command before he took charge of the Eastern Command.
Lt Gen Pande was also part of Operation Parakram, the 2001–2002 India–Pakistan standoff in response to the Parliament attack. This was the second major military standoff between India and Pakistan following the successful detonation of nuclear devices by both countries in 1998, the first being the Kargil War of 1999.
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