Major reshuffle at top level of Army on cards
Nain may head S Command, Mohanty to be vice chief
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Jan 22: A major reshuffle is on cards in Army’s top hierarchy in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh involving GOCs of Srinagar-based 16 Corps, Karu (Ladakh)-headquartered 3 Infantry Division which looks after the Eastern Ladakh where India and Chinese troops are engaged in standoff for past several months, Rajouri’s 25 Infantry Division and Gulmarg’s High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS) among others.
Sources told the Excelsior that after highly successful tenure as General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt Gen BS Raju is likely to get prestigious post of the Director General Military Operations (DGMO) in place of Lieutenant General Paramjit Singh Sanga. Former Northern Command chief Lt Gen Ranbir Singh was the DGMO when the Indian Army had carried out surgical strikes in Pakistan.
Lieutenant General Sanga had earlier served as GOC Nagrota-based 16 Corps from where he was posted as the DGMO.
Name of Lieutenant General DP Pandey, Director General of Territorial Army is under consideration for posting as new GOC of 15 Corps.
Lieutenant General JS Nain, who was earlier posted as GOC Yol Cantonment based 9 Corps, which looks after Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts under the Western Command and is presently Chief of Staff Southern Command, is likely to be posted as new Commander of Southern Command. He will replace Lieutenant General CP Mohanty, who will be new Vice Chief of Army Staff in place of Lieutenant General SK Saini, who will superannuate on January 31.
Lt Gen SK Saini, who also happens to be the Colonel of the JAT Regiment, has handed over the Baton of Colonel of the Regiment to Lieutenant General BS Raju, GOC 15 Corps, who will take over the responsibility from February 1, 2021.
In the Union Territory of Ladakh Karu-based 3 Infantry Division GOC Maj Gen Abhijit Bapat is likely to be transferred and posted in Shimla based Army Training Command (ARTRAC). Major General RS Raman, presently posted in the Army Headquarters, is being considered for posting as new GOC of 3 Infantry Division GOC, which looks after the Eastern Ladakh where Indian and Chinese Armies are engaged in standoff for past several months.
Karu-based GOC holds Major General-level talks with the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China whenever the talks are scheduled to resolve military standoff.
Major General Prateek Sharma of Rajouri-based 25 Infantry Division, which is also known as Ace of Spades Division, is likely to get new posting in the Army Headquarters while Major General R Puri is expected to replace Sharma. The GOC of 25 Infantry Division looks after entire Line of Control (LoC) in Nowshera, Sunderbani, Keri and Manjakote sectors of Rajouri district, where Pakistan has been resorting to ceasefire violations and infiltration attempts repeatedly but the troops have been successfully thwarting the enemy designs.
Major General RK Singh is tipped to head High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS) Gulmarg in Kashmir. The post is lying vacant for the last few days as Lieutenant General Tarun Kumar Aich, who was heading HAWS, was posted as Director General of National Cadet Corps (NCC).
Brigadier V Venkataraman is likely to be posted as new Chief Engineer in the Northern Command in place of Major General Hari Singh.
Major General Hari Singh is tipped to proceed to the Military Institute of Technology.
Sources said the major reshuffle is likely to be effected in the next few days especially after Republic Day.
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