Lt General Manoj Pande will now lead the Army

NEW DELHI: Lt. Gen. Manoj Pande will be the new Chief of the Indian Army. He has been the Deputy Chief of Army Staff since last January. Manoj Pandey is the first officer from the Corps of Engineers to become the Chief of Army Staff. General Naravane, who has been leading the army for 28 months, will complete his term on April 30.

Manoj Pande, who hails from Nagpur, started his career in December 1982 as a commissioned officer in the Bombay Sappers unit of the Army's Corps of Engineers. Lieutenant General Pande commanded an engineer regiment during Operation Parakram in the Pallanwala sector along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. Operation Parakram, the large-scale mobilisation of troops and weapons to the western border, followed the December 2001 terror attack on Parliament that brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war.

He also participated in UN missions in Ethiopia and Eritrea. He also led the Southern Command, the Andaman Nicobar Command and the Eastern Command. He became the Deputy Chief of Staff last January.