Kashmir counter-insurgency specialist named Vice-Chief of the Indian Army
The Government on April 29 completed the changes to the Army top brass by naming Lieutenant General Baggavalli Somashekar Raju, a former Corps Commander in the Kashmir Valley, as the new Vice-Chief of the Indian Army. He is at present Director-General Military Operations and will take over as Vice-Chief on May 1 when the incumbent, Lt General Manoj Pande moves to the top job of Chief of Army Staff.
New commanders to the Northern and Eastern Armies have also been named in the last two months.
Lt General Raju’s ascension to the post of Vice-Chief will probably mark the first time that an officer who has not served as Army Commander earlier will take this key slot.
The Vice-Chief in all the three armed forces of India is an officer of the rank of Commander-in-Chief of a regional force. He functions as a chief of staff to the Army Chief and a key pointsperson for coordinating Military Operations, Intelligence as also acquisitions.
Lt General Manoj Pande will also be making history as the first officer from the Corps of Engineers to be selected for the post of Indian Army Chief.
The Colonel of the Jat Regiment and a qualified helicopter pilot, Lt General Raju has had three tenures in higher rank in commanding counter-insurgency operations in the Kashmir Valley. He commanded the Uri brigade along the Line of Control, a Counter Insurgency Force and 15 Corps (Chinar Corps) in the Kashmir Valley. He has the reputation of a specialist on counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir but will now required to be focussed on the military stand-off with China along the Northern Boundary in Ladakh.
He commanded a Battalion during Operation Parakram – the military face-off with Pakistan following the terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament - in the Western Theatre and in Jammu & Kashmir. He has also headed the Indian Military Training Team (IMTRAT) in Bhutan.
Commissioned as an Infantry officer in the Jat Regiment, he is a graduate of the Royal College of Defence Studies, UK. He is also a post-graduate in Counter Terrorism from the US Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey.
As a helicopter pilot, Lt General Raju has flown operational sorties in UNOSOM II, the UN Mission in Somalia.
He is a recipient of the Uttam Yudh Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Yudh Seva Medal.
