General Upendra Dwivedi assumes charge as 30th Chief of Army Staff

By Anish Kumar | First Published Jun 30, 2024, 12:13 PM IST

General Upendra Dwivedi took over as the next chief of the Indian Army on Sunday succeeding Gen Manoj Pande on completion of his 26-month tenure. Lt Gen Dwivedi is the 30th Chief of the Army Staff.

Senior Indian Army officer General Upendra Dwivedi assumed charge as the 30th chief of Army Staff on Sunday, after superannuation of General Manoj Pande. His appointment as the Indian Army chief came a month later as Gen Pande was given a month extension in the midst of General Election. Prior to this, General Dwivedi was the vice-chief of the Army Staff since February 24.

Hailing from Madhya Pradesh, and having graduated from Sainik School, Rewa, he enrolled in the National Defence Academy in January 1981. On December 15, 1984, he received his commission in the 18th Battalion of the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles (JAKRIF).

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It should be noted that the current navy chief, Admiral DK Tripathi is his batch-mate from school days. It is said that the General officer was an outstanding sportsperson since his school days and excelled in both NDA and Indian Military Academy (IMA), where he was awarded the Blue in Physical Training.

“He continued to excel post commissioning and was awarded the gold medal in the Physical Training Course,” an official said.

In his long serving military career, General officer has a unique distinction of balanced exposure along Northern, Western and Eastern Theatres, in varied terrain and operational environment including Deserts, High Altitude, Riverine, Built Up area, North East and Jammu and Kashmir.

Dwivedi commanded his battalion in active Counter Terrorist operations in Kashmir Valley and in Rajasthan Deserts. He has held a number of staff and command positions in the Northeast, where he spearheaded the creation of the first compendium on Indo-Myanmar border management. He has also served as Inspector General of the Assam Rifles (General-Officer-Commanding) and Sector Commander of the Assam Rifles in tough counterterrorism operations.

Subsequently, he commanded Yol-headquartered Rising Star Corps along Western front and Udhampur-headquartered Northern Command from 2022-2024 in extremely challenging operational environment.

In addition to leading the dynamic counterterrorism operations in J&K, throughout his command he offered operational supervision and strategic direction for the planning and implementation of persistent operations along the Northern and Western frontiers.

He was also involved in modernising and equipping of the largest Command of the Indian Army, where he steered the induction of indigenous equipment as part of Atmanirbhar Bharat. “He synergised with people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh for convergent Nation Building outcomes and infrastructure development.”

He has varied staff exposures which includes handling conventional operations of Armoured Brigade in the Punjab plains, providing logistical support to a Mountain Division in North East along the Northern Borders and operations of a Strike Corps in Deserts.

At IHQ HQ (Army), he contributed significantly in Military Secretary’s branch and was instrumental in raising of a section in Military Operations Directorate. Later, as the Director General Infantry he steered and fast-tracked capital procurement cases of weapons. As Deputy Chief, he gave impetus towards automation and absorption of niche tech in the force.

Being a tech enthusiast, he worked towards enhancing the tech threshold of all ranks in Northern Command and pushed for Critical & Emerging Techs like Big Data Analytics, AI, Quantum and Blockchain based solutions.

As part of the overseas posting, the officer served in Somalia and Seychelles in different roles.

Besides, attending Staff College, Wellington & Higher Command Course at AWC, Mhow, Dwivedi was conferred ‘Distinguished Fellow’ in the coveted NDC equivalent course at USAWC, Carlisle, USA.

He is the recipient of Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and three GOC-in-C Commendation cards. He is married to Sunita Dwivedi, a science graduate, who is a home maker. Sunita Dwivedi has been associated with Aarushi, an institute for special ability children at Bhopal. The couple are blessed with two daughters who are working with NGOs.

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