Ministry of Defence clears top Navy positions

New Delhi: The defence ministry  on Saturday cleared appointments for top naval posts that have been lying vacant for a few weeks.

Commandant of the National Defence College vice-admiral Sunil Lanba will be the new Naval vice-chief.

Vice-Admiral Anil Chopra — the second senior-most naval officer and eastern naval command chief till now — will head the Western naval command. He succeeds Vice-Admiral (retd.) Shekhar Sinha who was superseded for the post of navy chief when Admiral R.K. Dhowan was appointed the Navy chief recently.

Vice-Admiral Lanba, as per the seniority principle, could be next in line to take over as naval chief after the tenure of Admiral Dhowan.

Southern naval command chief Vice-Admiral Satish Soni will be the Eastern Naval Command chief while Strategic Forces Command chief Vice-Admiral S.P.S. Cheema will  head the Southern Naval Command.