New Delhi, June 13 (IANS) — The government has appointed Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth, currently the Vice Chief of Army Staff, as the next Chief of the Army Staff (COAS). He will succeed General Upendra Dwivedi, who is scheduled to retire on June 30, 2026. An officer of the Armoured Corps, Lt Gen Seth will be the first head of the Army from a combat arm since General Shankar Roychowdhury in 1997.
Lt Gen Seth brings nearly four decades of service and a wide mix of operational, staff and capability-development experience. His tenure is expected to run until August 2028 and arrives as the Army prioritises force modernisation, the move toward integrated theatre command structures (joint operational commands combining army, air and naval elements), and heightened readiness along the China and Pakistan borders.
A graduate of the National Defence Academy, Dhiraj Seth was commissioned into the Armoured Corps in December 1986. Over his career he has commanded at every level in varied environments, including an Armoured Regiment in the desert sector and an Armoured Brigade in the western theatre, as well as a Counter-Insurgency Force in Jammu and Kashmir.
As a lieutenant general he led the Sudarshan Chakra Corps, one of the Army’s premier strike formations. He later served as General Officer Commanding, Delhi Area, overseeing key military engagements, ceremonial duties and coordination for major national and international events in the capital.
Upon elevation to Army Commander, Lt Gen Seth headed both the South Western Command and the Southern Command, making him one of the few officers to have commanded two operational Army Commands. Across more than two-and-a-half years in those appointments he provided strategic oversight of several critical theatres.
Beyond field command, he has held senior staff roles at Army Headquarters in Strategic Planning and Capability Development, helping shape the Army’s modernisation roadmap and align force structure with emerging technologies and future-war requirements. He is a graduate of the Higher Command Course and the National Defence College and attended the Command and Staff Course in Paris. He has been awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) among other service honours. Lt Gen Dhiraj Seth takes charge as the Army navigates significant transformation and evolving security challenges.
Original Source: https://www.morungexpress.com/who-is-lt-gen-dhiraj-seth-indias-next-army-chief
Category: India
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Publish Date: 2026-06-13 17:07:00
