General Upendra Dwivedi Takes Charge as Indian Army Chief, General Manoj Pande Retires

General Upendra Dwivedi has officially become the new Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) of the Indian Army, taking over from General Manoj Pande, who had been in the position since May 2022.

Before this new role, General Dwivedi served as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff. He has been honored with several prestigious awards, including the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, and three commendation cards from General Officer Commanding-in-Charge (GOC-in-C).

Hailing from Madhya Pradesh, General Dwivedi attended Sainik School Rewa and joined the National Defence Academy (NDA) in January 1981. He was commissioned into the 18th Battalion of the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles in December 1984, a unit he later led in both Kashmir valley and the deserts of Rajasthan.

From his school days, General Dwivedi was an exceptional sportsman. He excelled in physical training at both the NDA and the Indian Military Academy (IMA), earning a ‘Blue’ in physical training and later a gold medal in the physical training course after his commissioning.

General Dwivedi has extensive experience in various terrains and operational environments, including deserts, high altitudes, riverine areas, built-up areas, the northeast, and Jammu and Kashmir. He has commanded his battalion in counter-terrorist operations in both Kashmir valley and Rajasthan’s deserts. He has also served as the Inspector General Assam Rifles (IGAR-GOC) and Sector Commander of the Assam Rifles, where he was involved in intense counter-terrorist operations and created the first compendium on Indo-Myanmar border management.

Later, General Dwivedi led the Rising Star Corps along the western front and the Northern Army from 2022 to 2024, providing strategic guidance and operational oversight for sustained operations along the northern and western borders. He also orchestrated dynamic counter-terrorism operations in Jammu and Kashmir.

He played a key role in modernizing and equipping the largest command of the Indian Army, promoting the induction of indigenous equipment as part of the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative. His varied staff roles include handling conventional operations of the Armoured Brigade in Punjab, providing logistical support to a Mountain Division in the northeast, and overseeing operations of a Strike Corps in deserts.

General Dwivedi has also served overseas in Somalia with HQ UNOSOM II and in Seychelles as a Military Advisor to the government.

He is married to Sunita Dwivedi, a Science graduate who has been involved with Aarushi, an institute for differently-abled children in Bhopal. The couple has two daughters. General Dwivedi is also a skilled yoga practitioner.

The outgoing army chief, General Manoj Pande, was the first officer from the Corps of Engineers to become the Chief of the Army Staff. An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, General Pande was commissioned into the Corps of Engineers in December 1982 and commanded an engineer regiment during Operation Parakram in the Pallanwala sector along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir.