Next Army Chief Lt Gen Manoj Pande Has Family Roots In Nagpur, Son Serving In Air Force

Currently serving as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff, he will become the first commander from the Corps of Engineers to take charge of the Army.

Lt Gen Manoj C Pande, who has been appointed the 29th Chief of the Army Staff, hails from Nagpur and members of his family are connected with the defence forces, while his academician-father retired from the Nagpur university and the mother worked in the All India Radio.

Lt Gen Pande will succeed General MM Naravane, whose tenure ends on April 30.

Currently serving as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff, he will become the first commander from the Corps of Engineers to take charge of the 1.3-million-strong force as the position has been held so far by officers from infantry, artillery and armoured regiments.

Col Abhay Patwardhan (retd), who has met Lt Gen Pande a couple of times in Nagpur, told PTI on Monday that the latter did his initial schooling from the city and has a lot of acquaintances in Nagpur.