NEW DELHI, Sep 28: Lt Gen Anil Chauhan (retd), a former eastern Army commander and director general of military operations, was on Wednesday appointed as India’s new Chief of Defence Staff, more than nine months after the post fell vacant following the death of Gen Bipin Rawat in a helicopter crash.
A decorated Army officer and a China expert, 61-year-old Chauhan will also function as Secretary in the Department of Military Affairs with effect from the date of his assumption of charge and until further orders.
He was the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) of the Army during the Balakot air strikes in 2019 when Indian airplanes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp deep inside Pakistan in response to the Pulwama terror strike.
Lt Gen Chauhan (retd) will assume the rank of the four-star General once he takes charge as India’s second Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). He will be the first retired three-star officer to return to service in four-star rank.
Born on May 18, 1961, Lt Gen Anil Chauhan was commissioned into the 11 Gorkha Rifles of the Indian Army in 1981. In a career spanning over nearly 40 years, he held several command, staff and instrumental appointments and had extensive experience in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and Northeast India.
As the Eastern Army Commander, he played a significant role in bolstering India’s overall combat readiness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim sectors.
He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.
In the rank of Maj General, the officer had commanded an Infantry Division in the critical Baramulla sector in the Northern Command.
Later as Lt General, he commanded a corps in the Northeast and subsequently went to become the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Command from September 2019 and held the charge until his retirement from the service in May 2021.
Earlier, the officer had also served as a United Nations mission to Angola.
The post of CDS has been lying vacant since the death of Gen Rawat along with his wife Madhulika Rawat and 12 others in a helicopter crash on December 8 last year.
On January 1 2020, Gen Rawat took charge as India’s first CDS with a mandate to bring convergence in the functioning of the Army, the Navy and the Indian Air Force and bolster the country’s overall military prowess. (PTI)
