Lt Gen Manoj Pande takes charge as the new commander of the operationally crucial Eastern Army Command that is responsible for guarding the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China in the Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh sectors.
In another important appointment, Lt Gen Ajai Singh will assume office as the 16th Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command (CINCAN) which is India’s only tri-service theatre command, officials said. Lt Gen Singh succeeds Lt Gen Pande at the Andaman and Nicobar Command.
Lt Gen Pande was commissioned in the Bombay Sappers in December 1982. In his years of service, he has held several prestigious command and staff assignments in conventional as well as counter-insurgency operations in all types of terrain.
Lt Gen Pande succeeds Lt Gen Anil Chauhan who retired as the Eastern Army Commander on Monday. The Eastern Command with headquarters in Kolkata is responsible for safeguarding India’s borders with Myanmar.
Lt Gen Pande will be the senior-most Army commander when Army Chief Gen MM Naravane retires from service next year.
On the other hand, Lt Gen Singh has authored three key studies. These include the initial draft of the Army’s “Land Warfare Doctrine, 2018”, the “Army HQ Re-organisation Study, 2019”, and an important Operational Study concluded in 2020.
