March 31, 2010 15:47 IST
Gen V K Singh, the senior-most infantry officer, was on Wednesday handed over charge of the Indian Army, the world's second largest, by outgoing chief Gen Deepak Kapoor and he will formally assume his new office on Thursday.
He will be the first trained commando to take over as the Army Chief.
Gen Singh, who has vast experience in counter-insurgency operations and till lately was the GOC-in-C of Kolkata-based Eastern Command, was handed over charge by Gen Kapoor at a ceremony in the South Block in New Delhi.
Kapoor retired from the Army after over four decades of service and would formally cease to be the Army Chief at midnight on Wednesday.
Singh, who picked up the four-star rank of General on Wednesday, will be the 26th chief and will stay at the helm of the 1.13 million personnel-strong Army for over two years.
The Defence Ministry had on January 23 issued the order appointing Singh for the top post after the Cabinet Committee on Appointments cleared his name a day earlier.
Singh was in the news recently when he recommended action against four General-ranked officers indicted by a probe in the Sukna land scam in Darjeeling district of West Bengal.
A third generation officer from the Rajput regiment, Singh had participated in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War as a young captain. He is a graduate of the Wellington-based Defence Services Staff College as well as the US Army War College at Carlisle. He also did a Rangers Course, a prestigious commando training, at Fort Benning in the US.
1st trained commando to take over as Army Chief
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