Lt Gen Manoj Pande has been
appointed as the 29th Chief of Army Staff, becoming the first officer from the
Corps of Engineers to head the 1.3 million Army. He will take over on April 30
when the incumbent Gen Manoj Naravane is set to retire.

Government has decided to appoint Lieutenant General Manoj
Pande as the next Chief of army staff,” the Defence Officials Told ANI.

Who is Lt. General Manoj Pande?

Lieutenant General Manoj Chandrashekhar Pande, PVSM, AVSM,
VSM (born 6 May 1962) is a serving General Officer in the Indian Army. He is an
alumnus of the prestigious National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla and the
Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun. He was commissioned into the Bombay
Sappers in December 1982 after passing out from the IMA.

In a military career spanning 39 years, Lt General Pande
held prestigious command and staff assignments in conventional as well as
counter-insurgency operations in all types of terrain.

He has commanded an engineer brigade in the western theatre,
an infantry brigade along the Line of Control (LoC), a mountain division in the
Ladakh sector and a corps in the North-east.

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Lieutenant General Pande had also served as the Eastern Army
Commander before taking over as the army’s vice chief. He was also the
commander-in-chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command (CINCAN) from June 2020
to May 2021.He is the senior-most officer when General Naravane retires.

His staff exposures include Brigade Major of a Mountain
Brigade in the Northeast, Assistant Military Secretary (AMS) in the Military
Secretary’s Branch and Brigadier General Staff (Operations) at the Eastern
Command headquarters. He has served as chief engineer in the United Nations
mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea. He has also served as the additional director
general in the military operations directorate at the Army headquarters and as
the chief of staff at the headquarters of the Southern Command.

Decorations

Lieutenant General Manoj Pande has been conferred with the Param
Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, and Vishisht Seva Medal, the
Chief of Army Staff Commendation and twice with GOC-in-C Commendation.

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Appointment is still awaited for the post of Chief of
Defence Staff (CDS) which has fallen vacant following the untimely demise of
the first country’s CDS Gen Bipin Rawat in a chopper crash in December. General Naravane is presently the senior most and front runner for the post.