General Upendra Dwivedi on Sunday took over as the 30th chief of the Indian Army. He has succeeded General Manoj Pande, who retired after more than four decades of distinguished service.
Known in the army as a decisive and innovative leader, Dwivedi was commissioned into 18 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles in 1984.
Dwivedi took over as the army’s vice chief in February 2024, after serving as the Northern Army commander for two years.
In a military career spanning 40 years, he has served as deputy chief in the Army Headquarters, the General Officer Commanding of the Yol-based HQs 9 Corps, director general of infantry, and Inspector General Assam Rifles in the North-east. He also commanded his battalion in the Kashmir valley and Rajasthan.
He has attended the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, Higher Command Course at Army War College, Mhow, and the US Army War College in Carlisle.
The 60-year-old officer is a vegetarian, yoga enthusiast and has a passion for photography and reading, said senior army officials who have known Dwivedi for decades.
He has taken over as army chief at a time when the military standoff between India and China in the sensitive Ladakh sector is now in its fifth year, with no indication of an immediate resolution to the problems along the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Dwivedi has also taken over at a time when some National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies have called for a review of the Agnipath scheme for the short-term recruitment of soldiers.
The Agnipath model was a major departure from the military’s decades-old recruitment system that was scrapped when the NDA government announced the new scheme in June 2022.
It seeks to recruit soldiers for only four years, with a provision to retain 25% of them in regular service. Those recruited under the new scheme are called Agniveers.
