New Delhi: The sudden resignation of Admiral D.K. Joshi has dramatically altered the line of succession in the Indian Navy. Sources said that even though the current Navy Vice Chief Vice Admiral R.K. Dhowan has been named officiating navy chiefpending a regular appointment, it is Western Command chief Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha who is the senior most naval officer after Admiral Joshi.
Vice Admiral Dhowan comes next in the list of seniority. After that comes Eastern Command chief Vice Admiral Anil Chopra while Southern chief Vice Admiral Satish Soni is the fourth most senior officer serving.
If Admiral Joshi had completed his three year tenure on August 31, 2015, it would have been Vice Admiral Soni who would then have been the senior most officer and next in line to become Chief of Naval Staff.
However, with the sudden resignation of Admiral Joshi, Vice Admiral Soni finds himself way down the seniority list and looks set to lose out on the chance to head the force.
Though Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha is now the senior most naval officer serving after Admiral Joshi, the spate of incidents involving naval vessels in the Western Command’s jurisdiction could cast a shadow on any possible elevation. In fact, there was speculation on Wednesday that Vice Admiral Sinha himself could be removed from his current post following the accident on the INS Sindhuratna.
In the past few months, Admiral Joshi had come under tremendous pressure due to a series of incidents involving naval vessels. It all began with the sinking of the INS Sindhurakshak India’s frontline conventional submarine due to multiple explosions in August, 2013, at Mumbai.
In fact, defence minister A.K. Antony had cautioned the Navy against wastage of national resources. Admiral Joshi was supposed to have been unhappy with Mr Antony's statement.
Admiral Joshi, 59, was commissioned into the Indian Navy in its executive branch in 1974. He was Western Command chief before taking over the force on August 31, 2012.
