Centre appoints Lt Gen Dhiraj Seth as next Chief of Army Staff
NEW DELHI: The Centre on Saturday appointed Lt Gen Dhiraj Seth as the next Chief of the Army Staff, he is currently serving as the vice-chief. He will succeed General Upendra Dwivedi who took over as the 30th Chief of the Army Staff in June 2024 and is set to retire at this end of this month after completing his tenure. He was commissioned in to the Armoured Corps in December 1986 after graduating from the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla. He has held several key operational, command and strategic appointments.Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth is one of the Indian Army’s senior most armoured corps officer, with nearly four decades of service. He will be the first chief from the armoured corps after General Shankar Roy Chowdhary, who retired in 1997. Lt General Seth has been the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Pune based Southern Army Command and the Jaipur based South Western Command, both of these commands face Pakistan. Lt General Seth has also commanded the Bhopal based 21 Corps (known as the Sudarshan Chakra Corps), an offensive formation. As General Officer Commanding, Delhi Area, Lt Gen Seth has led the Republic Day Parade in 2023. He was commissioned in to the Armoured Corps in December 1986 after graduating from the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla. He has held several key operational and command appointments. He has played a pivotal role in shaping the Indian Army’s modernisation roadmap, holding key posts in Strategic Planning and Capability Development Directorates, where he worked on acquisition, and long-term perspective planning, strengthening capability development initiatives significantly. The Southern Command demonstrated integrating drones as an element in armoured units as the Shaurya Squadron during his tenure as the Southern Army commander. Lt General Dhiraj Seth is the son of Lt General Krishna Mohan Seth who retired as the Adjutant General and has been the Governor of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Tripura. Both father and son have commanded the Sudarshan Chakra Corps. Lt General Dhiraj Seth’s younger brother is Rear Admiral Ravnish Seth, who is currently posted in Karwar.
