Lt General Manoj Pandey Takes Over Eastern Army Command

Lt General Manoj Pandey takes over as the new commander of the Eastern Army Command today; West Bengal.

Lt Gen Manoj Pandey took over as the new Commander (General Officer Commanding-in-Chief) of the crucial Eastern Army Command on Tuesday.

The command is deployed to guard the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China in the northeastern states of Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh regions, headquartered in Kolkata.

Lt Gen Pandey succeeds Lt Gen Anil Chauhan who retired as Eastern Army Commander on Monday, 31 May.

Lieutenant General Pandey was the Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command prior to this appointment.

In another important appointment, Lt Gen Ajay Singh will take over as the 16th Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command, officials said. He will succeed Lt Gen Pandey.

A statement stated that Lt. General Pandey was commissioned at Bombay Sappers in December 1982. In his career, he has held several prestigious command in traditional as well as counter-terrorism operations in all types of areas.

The officer has held various positions in all the six geographic commands of the Army as well as the Army Training Command. He has served in several sensitive positions in the Army Headquarters.

At the same time, Lt Gen Singh is an officer of the Armed Corps. He was commissioned into the 81 Armored Regiment in December 1983.

General Anil Chauhan retired after 40 years in the army.

Chief of the Army’s Eastern Command (General Officer Commanding in Chief) Lieutenant General Anil Chauhan retired on Monday, 31 May after 40 years of glorious service in the army.

A defense official said that during Lt Gen Chauhan’s tenure as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Command, there was a major decline in militancy in the Northeast region, which also resulted in reduction in Army deployment in several northeastern states.

Lt Gen Chauhan took over the command of the Eastern Army on 1 September 2019 from the current Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane.

Before assuming the responsibility of Eastern Command, Chouhan was the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) in New Delhi, the official said.

As the DGMO, he was the Chief Artist of ‘Operation Sunrise’ under which Indian and Myanmar Army launched a coordinated campaign against the militants near the borders of both countries.

He was also associated with the plan of surgical strike.