Something happened after five decades ::::: An almost unprecedented & rare move, Govt extends tenure of Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande by one month

The government on Sunday extended the tenure of Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande for a period of one month.

Gen Manoj Pande was to retire from service on May 31.

"The Appointments Committee of Cabinet on May 26 approved the extension in service of Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj C Pande for a period of one month, beyond his normal age of superannuation (May 31), i.e. up to June 30, under Rule 16 A (4) of the Army Rules 1954," the defence ministry said in a statement.  

Lt Gen Ajai Kumar Singh

The extension to Gen Pande comes nearly five decades after the then Indira Gandhi-led government extended the tenure of Army Chief Gen G G Bewoor by one year in early 1970s in first such instance.

But there may be more to it than what we can feel.  There are already whispering that Centre may 'supersede' the present Vice Chief of the Army Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi.

Gen Pande took charge as the 29th Chief of the Army Staff on April 30, 2022 after Gen M M Naravane retired from service.

Hence, No. 3 -- that is Southern Army commander Lt Gen. A K Singh (Ajai Kumar Singh) based at Pune at present could be named the next Chief of Army Staff only after election results and the new cabinet takes charge after the swearing in of the new ministry.

Analysts say all these in effect assume significance as we are in the election season. The Modi government does not want to court any controversy by extending the tenure of incumbent chief Manoj Pande by six months or a year or more.

There is a feeling that when the Neta class including Raksha Mantri - Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself are themselves talking a lot 'taking control' of PoK sooner than later.

Interestingly, the Prime Minister has also spoken about 'chudiyan pehena dengey' vis-a-vis Pakistan and political protagonists such as Farooq Abdullah and Mani Shankar Aiyar have been trying to caution that the western neighbour too is a nuclear power. 

In such a scenario, needless to add, the appointment of new Army Chief or extension to the incumbent for a year or so could draw unnecessary media debate and controversies. 

Thus the government has opted for a 'closure' episode of the entire exercise for the time being and will visit the same only after elections. 

Lt. Gen. Singh, from the Gorkha Rifles, hails from Dehradun, Uttarakhand.  Gen Bipin Rawat, also from Uttarakhand, had made it to the top post by superceeding two senor officers -- Praveen Bakshi (Eastern Army Commander) and P M Hariz (Southern Army Commander) -- to become Army Chief. 

Needless to add, NSA Ajit Doval is an IPS from Kerala cadre but hails from Uttarakhand and all these could be coincidence; who knows !!

“Capturing and defending territory still requires boots on the ground – infantry, trenches and mines. We must simultaneously improve both cutting-edge technologies and traditional military assets,” Lt Gen Singh said around a fortnight ago. (reports indianmandarins.com)

His statement is/as seen, in a section, as something which triggered speculation of him being the next Army Chief. 

Thus, as speculated if Lt Gen Singh is given the supreme command, this would be the second time when such a 'superceeding' would take place in the Army in last eight years.  

Sources say Lt Gen Ajai Kumar Singh is 'junior' to the present vice chief  Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi only technically as both are from the same batch.

Lt Gen Dwivedi, who has vast operational experience along the frontiers with China and Pakistan, assumed charge as Vice Chief in February 2024 succeeding Lt Gen M V Suchindra Kumar.  

Lt Gen Dwivedi was serving as the Northern Army Commander in his previous assignment.

Lt Gen A K Singh commanded 1/11 Gorkha Rifles as part of a Strike Corps, and subsequently on the Line of Control.

He later commanded a brigade in Rann Sector, a Counter Insurgency Force in J&K and XXXIII Corps in the Eastern Sector.

He has been an Instructor at Commando School, Belgaum and has held a post in the Military Wing at the Indian Embassy, Nepal. 

He has also served as Director, Military Operations Branch, Deputy Director General, Discipline & Vigilance, Additional Director General of Military Operations and Director General of Operations & Logistics branch at the IHQ of MoD (Army).

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