Lt Gen Naravane will be next Army Chief

Lt Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane is set to become the next chief of the 1.3 million-strong Indian Army, official sources said on Monday. He is currently serving as Vice Chief of the Army.

Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat is due for retirement on December 31. Before taking charge as vice chief of Army Staff in September, Lt Gen Naravane was heading Eastern Command of the Army, which takes care of India’s nearly 4,000-km border with China.

In his 37 years of service, he has served in numerous command and staff appointments in peace, field and highly active counterinsurgency environments in Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast. He has also commanded a Rashtriya Rifles Battalion in Jammu and Kashmir and an infantry brigade on the eastern front. He was also part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka and had served as India’s defence attache at the Indian Embassy in

Myanmar for three years.

Lt Gen Naravane is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy. He was commissioned into the 7th battalion, the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment in June 1980.

A decorated officer who has been awarded the ‘Sena Medal’ (Distinguished) for effectively commanding his battalion in Jammu and Kashmir, he is also a recipient of the ‘Vishisht Seva Medal’ for his services as Inspector General Assam Rifles (North) in Nagaland and the ‘Ati Vishisht Seva Medal’ for commanding of a prestigious strike corps.