Article Posted on : - Jan 13, 2017

JAIPUR (PTI): Lieutenant General Sarath Chand, Army Commander of Jaipur-based South Western Command,  has been appointed as the new Vice Chief of Army Staff at a ceremony here.

During the ceremony on Thursday, Lt Gen Sarath Chand relinquished the reins of the Sapta Shakti Command here and paid tributes to the martyrs at the Prerna Sthal followed by reviewing Guard of Honour presented to him, the defence spokesperson release said.

Lt Gen Sarath Chand was commissioned into the Garhwal Rifles in June 1979 and has had an outstanding professional career spanning over 38 years.

An alumnus of Sainik School, Kazhakootam (Trivandrum), National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla, Pune and Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, he is a graduate of the prestigious Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, the Higher Command Course, Army War College, Mhow and the National Defence College, New Delhi.

He has served in every important military theatre of India and has been in active combat leadership roles at every stage of command in the Army.

He has had a very fruitful tenure as the Army Commander of South Western Command.

Under his dynamic leadership, the Command scaled new heights of operational readiness with greater degree of synergy amongst various arms, services of the Army and with the Indian Air Force, defence spokesperson Lt Col Manish Ojha said.