Who is Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Indian Army’s new Vice Chief?
Lt Gen Dwivedi brings extensive experience from various command and staff appointments, including commanding units in both the Northern and Western Theatres. During his tenure, he focused on strategic guidance, operational oversight, counter-terrorism operations, border negotiations with China, and modernization initiatives
FollowSenior military officer Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi on Monday took charge as the Indian Army’s Vice Chief, replacing Lt Gen Suchindra Kumar. Lt Gen Suchindra Kumar assumed charge of Udhamour-based Northern Army commander. The command consists of three Corps, the XIV, XV, and XVI. XIV Corps is mandated to look after the borders with China in Ladakh while the other two are for the Pakistan border. Prior to taking over as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff, Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi served as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Northern Command from 2022 to 2024 in an extremely challenging operational environment.
About Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi
The General officer is an alumnus of Sainik School, Rewa (Madhya Pradesh). He was commissioned into the 18 Jammu & Kashmir Rifles in 1984, a unit he later commanded.
Lt Gen Dwivedi has had a unique distinction of balanced exposure to both Northern and Western Theatres.
In his career spanning over 39 years, the Army officer has held command appointments in challenging operational environments, spanning the length and breadth of the country.
He commanded his unit in Kashmir Valley as well as in Rajasthan.
He has been Sector Commander and Inspector General of Assam Rifles in an intense Counter Terrorism environment in the North East.
Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi commanded the Rising Star Corps with an operational role along the Western Borders. He later commanded the prestigious Northern Army from 2022-24.
During his command, “he provided Strategic guidance & Operational oversight for planning and execution of sustained operations along the northern and western borders, besides orchestrating the dynamic Counter-Terrorism operations in J&K,” Indian Army PRO Colonel Sudhir Chamoli said.
During this period, the General officer was actively engaged in the ongoing negotiations with China to resolve the vexed border issue. He was also involved in the modernisation and equipping of the largest Army Command of the Indian Army, where he steered the induction of indigenous equipment as part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.
Besides the challenging command assignments, Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi has tenanted important staff appointments in the Headquarters Armoured Brigade, Mountain Division, Strike Corps and Integrated HQ (Army).
Being a technology enthusiast, he worked towards enhancing the technical threshold of all ranks in Northern Command and pushed for ‘Critical and Emerging Technologies’ like Big Data Analytics, AI, Quantum and Blockchain-based solutions.
