Imphal: In an unusual move, the Appointments Committee of Cabinet on Sunday granted a month extension in service of Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Gen Manoj Pande beyond his retirement date, up to June 30, 2024. He was due to retire on May 31 turning 62 years of age.
He was appointed as the COAS on 30 April 2022.
An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Pande was commissioned into the Corps of Engineers (The Bombay Sappers) in December 1982. He held the appointment of Vice Chief of the Army Staff before taking over as the COAS.
Born May 6, 1962, Pande has been the 29th army chief for over two years. Service chiefs have a three-year term or serve until they turn 62, whichever is earlier. Before assuming the charge of vice chief, Pande was heading the Kolkata-based Eastern Command, which is responsible for guarding India’s borders with China in the eastern sector.
In his four decades of military career, Pande has commanded an engineer brigade in the western theatre, an infantry brigade along the LoC, a mountain division in the Ladakh sector, and a corps in the northeast. He was the commander-in-chief of Andaman and Nicobar Command before he took charge of Eastern Command.
