Top-level rejig in Army today as heads of eastern, western commands retire

NEW DELHI: The Indian Army will witness a reshuffle at the top level on Wednesday as heads of two key commands — Western and Eastern — retired on Tuesday.

Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Katiyar, the general officer commanding-in-chief (GoC-in-C) of the Army’s Western Command, retired after a distinguished 40-year career. He earlier served as Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) at IHQ of the defence ministry (Army). Prior to that, he was General Officer Commanding of the Army’s I Corps, a premier strike formation.

On Wednesday, the current vice-chief, Lt Gen Pushpendra Pal Singh, is scheduled to take over as the head of Western Command, which is one of the Army’s most critical operational formations responsible for guarding the Pakistan border across Jammu, Samba, Kathua and Punjab.

Lt Gen RC Tiwari, the Eastern Army Commander, also superannuated on Tuesday. He will be succeeded by Lt Gen VMB Krishnan, who has been promoted.

Lt Gen Dhiraj Seth, the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Pune-based Southern Command, will move to the Army HQ as vice-chief from April 1. Lt Gen Seth is an Armoured Corps officer commissioned in Dec 1986. He has held several command and staff appointments during his career. Prior to taking charge of Southern Command in July 2024, he commanded the Mathura-based XXI Strike Corps, one of the Army’s key strike formations.

Lt Gen Sandeep Jain, currently Chief Of Staff, Southern Command, will get elevated as Southern Army Commander in his place.

Lt Gen Katiyar, who led the Western Command during the conflict with Pakistan last May, recently said, “During Operation Sindoor, we successfully thwarted Pakistan's nefarious objectives and achieved success... Beyond regular training, we are undertaking large-scale procurement of new equipment, including drones and counter-drone systems. Wherever necessary, we are manufacturing these items in-house within our own workshops.”

During his tenure as Eastern Army Commander, Lt Gen Tiwari played a key role in strengthening operational preparedness in the eastern theatre, enhancing training and capability development. Through his military career spanning over three decades, Tiwari held significant command roles in both conventional warfare and counter-insurgency environments, including commanding an infantry battalion for counter-insurgency operations, a mountain brigade in high-altitude areas, the elite Black Cat Division as General Officer Commanding (GOC) and 3 Corps (Spear Corps) in Nagaland.
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