NEW DELHI (INP): The Indian government on Saturday announced Lt General Bipin Rawat would be the new Army Chief, superseding two senior most Lt Generals, Praveen Bakshi and P M Hariz while Air Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa has been named as next Air Chief.
\nLt Gen Rawat, who is currently Vice Chief of Army Staff, will take over as the 26th Chief after Gen Dalbir Singh retires on December 31. Lt Gen Rawat is an Infantry officer, having been commissioned in the Fifth Battalion of the Eleven Gorkha Rifles.
\nLt Gen Bakshi, who heads the Kolkata-headquartered Eastern Command, is from the Armoured Corps.
\n\u201cGovernment has decided to appoint Lt Gen Bipin Rawat, vice chief of army staff, as the next chief of army staff with effect from afternoon of December 31,\u201d the defence ministry said in a tweet.
\nAir Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa has been chosen as the new chief of the Indian Air Force, the ministry said.
\nThey are the first high profile defence appointments by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
\nRawat has served in the India-held Kashmir along the Line of Control, where troops of the nuclear-armed nations have been locked in almost daily cross-border firing for months.
\nHe has also served in the insurgency-hit northern states and along the border with China.
\nThe new chief was handpicked for the top job over two senior officers, a rare decision for the Indian army which follows seniority in appointments.
\nThe government also announced Anil Dhasmana as the new chief of India’s external intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing, while Rajiv Jain will head the domestic agency, Intelligence Bureau.
\nBoth will take up their new roles in January, local media reports said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI (INP): The Indian government on Saturday announced Lt General Bipin Rawat would be the new Army Chief, superseding two senior most Lt Generals, Praveen Bakshi and P M Hariz while Air Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa has been named as next Air Chief. Lt Gen Rawat, who is currently Vice Chief of Army Staff, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-8097","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n