Lt General Upendra Dwivedi, a veteran of the northeast and Jammu and Kashmir theatres, has been identified to take over as the next Army chief after General Manoj Pande. The formal announcement was made on Tuesday.
Currently the Vice Chief of the Army, Lt General Dwivedi will take over as the new Chief on June 30 after the retirement of Gen Pande. Heading the 1.3-million-strong Army, Gen Pande finally retires on that date, having got a month's extension in May.
Lt General Dwivedi was born on 01 July 1964 and commissioned into Infantry, the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles on 15 December 1984. Over his illustrious nearly four decades long professional career, he has held varied and command, staff, instructional, and international positions.
His important staff and instructional appointments have been: instructor, Young Officers' Course at Infantry School; general staff officer Grade, operations in a division; instructor class C at Defence Services Staff College, Wellington; Brigade Major, operational in an infantry brigade at Brigade field artillery regiment in an armoured division; colonel general staff capability in Army Headquarters; brigadier general staff operations in a corps; and senior instructor at the United States Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, USA.
Lt General Dwivedi is an alumnus of Sainik School, Rewa, the National Defence College, and the US Army War College, where he was awarded as a 'Distinguished Fellow'. He has also completed courses at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, and the Army War College, Mhow. Academically, he holds an MPhil in Defence & Management Studies, along with two Master's degrees in Strategic Studies and Military Science.
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