The government of India has appointed Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi as the next Chief of Army Staff. Lt General Upendra Dwivedi will take over from the current Army chief, General Manoj Pande, who will retire on 30 June 2024. General Manoj Pande, who was due to retire on 31 May 2024, tenure was extended by the government by one month till 30 June 2024.

Upendra Dwivedi, as the 30th Army Chief of India

Lt General Upendra Dwivedi will be the 30th chief of the Indian Army. Currently, he is the Vice Chief of the Army Staff.

Lt General Upendra Dwivedi is an alumnus of Sainik School, Rewa, Madhya Pradesh.

In 1984, he was commissioned as an officer in the 18th Jammu and Kashmir Rifles and later became the commanding officer of the same unit.

Lt General Upendra Dwivedi has also served as the sector commander and the inspector General (IG) of the paramilitary force Assam Rifles.

As lieutenant General, he served as the Director General of Infantry and General Officer Commanding in Chief (Headquarters Northern Command) from 2022 to 2024.

Lt Gen Dwivedi, in his 40-year military career, has been decorated with some of the most prestigious military recognitions, including the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, and three GOC-in-C Commendation Cards.

Indian Army and its Chief

The Indian army is the second largest Army in the world after China, with around 1.46 million active personnel.

The Indian Army is under the Union Ministry of Defence, and the President of India is its Commander in Chief.

The Army is led by a Chief of Army Staff(COAS), popularly called an Army Chief.

At the time of Independence, the Army chief was General Sir Robert Lockhart.

The first Indian to become the Army chief was Field Marshal K.M Carriappa.

He became the Army chief on 15 January 1949, and to mark the historic occasion, Army Day is celebrated in India on 15 January every year.

Command Structure of the Indian Army

The Indian Army's headquarters is in New Delhi, where the Chief of the Army staff sits.

The Army chief is responsible for the command, control, and administration of the Indian Army as a whole.

The Army has six operational commands and one training command, each under the command of a Lieutenant General.

Serial number	Operational Command	Headquarters
1.	Central Command	Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh)
2.	Eastern Command	Kolkata (West Bengal)
3.	Western Command	Chandi Mandir (Haryana)
4.	South Western Command	Jaipur, Rajasthan
5	Northern Command	Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir
6.	Southern Command	Pune, Maharashtra
7.	Training Command	Shimla, Himachal Pradesh