The Indian Army and the Indian Air Force got new chiefs on Saturday, amidst raging controversy over the appointment of the new Army chief while ignoring the convention of appointing the senior-most Army commander.
General Bipin Rawat, who was selected ignoring the seniority of Lt. Gen. Praveen Bakshi and Lt. Gen. P.M. Hariz, took over as the new Chief of the Army Staff from General Dalbir Singh at a ceremony held in South Block on Saturday.
Lt. Gen. Bakshi, Eastern Army Commander, whose claim as the senior-most among the eligible candidates, was ignored by the Central government, meanwhile, said in Kolkata that he would not be resigning from service in protest, as was widely speculated.
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A Gorkha Rifles officer, Gen. Rawat will be the 27th Army chief. With extensive experience in both — Kashmir and Eastern region — Gen. Rawat has also held key appointments in the Army headquarters as well as with the UN peacekeeping force.
Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa took over as the 25th Chief of the Air Staff at a ceremony held at the Air Headquarters (Vayu Bhawan) on Saturday.
He was the Commanding Officer of a front-line ground attack fighter squadron, that was involved in air operations during the ‘limited war’ in Kargil against Pakistan in 1999.
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“I feel honoured and privileged to have been entrusted with the responsibility to lead one of the finest Air Forces in the world. I will certainly be inspired by the leadership of so many of my illustrious predecessors,” he said.
The incoming chief pointed out that the IAF is transforming into a “strategic aerospace power with full-spectrum capability”.