Mumbai: Lt. Gen. Manoj Mukund Naravane, seen as the front-runner to the post of Army chief, on Sunday assumed charge as Vice Chief of Army Staff. He will be the seniormost commander when Chief of Army Staff Gen Bipin Rawat retires on December 31.
Prior to this, Lt. Gen. Naravane was the General Officer heading the Army’s Eastern Command. He succeeds Lt. Gen. Devraj Anbu who superannuated on Saturday.
Lt. Gen. Naravane and Northern Army commander Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh, who is next on the seniority list, are top contenders for the post of Army chief. Lt. Gen. Singh was Director-General of Military Operations (DGMO) during the surgical strikes against terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in September 2016.
The appointment of Lt. Gen. Naravane as Vice Chief indicates that he is likely to succeed Gen. Rawat.
Gen. Rawat was appointed Army Chief in December 2016 by superseding two officers senior to him. Also, Vice Admiral Karambir Singh was appointed Navy Chief superseding his senior Vice Admiral Bimal Verma.
Lt. Gen. Naravane is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy. He was commissioned into the 7th Battalion, The Sikh Light Infantry Regiment, in June 1980. He brings with him an enormous amount of experience in serving in the most challenging areas.
In a distinguished career spanning four decades, he has the distinction of serving in active counterinsurgency environments.
