Lt. Gen. Dwivedi to be Next Army Chief

New Delhi: The government on Tuesday announced Vice Chief of the Army Staff Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi as the next Army Chief with effect from the afternoon of June 30. By announcing Lt. Gen. Dwivedi as the next army chief Modi government has followed the seniority norm.

The present Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj C. Pande will demit office on June 30, 2024.

Last month in an unprecedented move, Appointments Committee of Cabinet had approved one-month extension in service of General Pande upto June 30.

Gen. Pande was to retire on May 31. This had led to intense speculation that government may supersede Lieutenant General Dwivedi, who would have been the senior most after the retirement of Gen. Pande on May 31. Interesting, Lt. Gen. Dwivedi was also to retire on June 30. To overcome this, government has named him new Army chief with effect from the afternoon of June 30, 2024.

Born on July 1, 1964, Lt. Gen. Upendra Dwivedi was commissioned into the Infantry (Jammu & Kashmir Rifles) of the Indian Army on December 15, 1984. During his long and distinguished service spanning nearly 40 years, he has served in a variety of Command, Staff, Instructional and Foreign appointments.

The Command appointments of Lt. Gen. Dwivedi include Command of Regiment (18 Jammu & Kashmir Rifles), Brigade (26 Sector Assam Rifles), DIG, Assam Rifles (East) and 9 Corps.

In the rank of Lt. Gen., he tenanted important appointments including that of Director General Infantry and General Officer Commanding in Chief (Headquarter Northern Command) from 2022-2024, before getting appointed as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff.

An alumnus of the Sainik School Rewa, National Defence College and US Army War College, Lt Gen Dwivedi has also undergone courses at the DSSC Wellington and Army War College, Mhow.