Lt Gen Dhiraj Seth assumes role as Vice Chief of Army Staff
Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth on Wednesday here took charge as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff on Wednesday. The decorated military officer succeeds Lt General Pushpendra Singh.
At a ceremony held on the South Block lawns, the general officer reviewed a guard of honour as he assumed the key leadership post in the Indian Army.
A day earlier, Lt Gen. Seth relinquished his previous appointment as the general officer commanding-in-chief of the Southern Command.
He also laid a wreath at the Southern Command War Memorial to honour the sacrifices made by soldiers.
In his message to all ranks of the Pune-based command, the general officer exhorted them to sustain its operational edge by embracing technology absorption, refining warfighting competencies for multi-domain operations and strengthening the foundations of a future-ready force, officials said.
Lt Gen. Seth served as the 51st general officer commanding-in-chief of the elite Southern Command from July 1, 2024, to March 31 this year.
When India carried out Operation Sindoor — the decisive military action in the wake of the Pahalgam terror attack — last year, Lt Gen. Seth was at the helm of the Southern Command.
Along with two other top officers from the Navy and Air Force, he also witnessed the key tri-services exercise, “Trishul”, held off Gujarat’s Porbandar coast in November last year.
An alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla, and the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, Lt Gen. Seth was commissioned into the 2nd Lancers on December 20, 1986.
The general officer has commanded the Skinner’s Horse, 98 Armoured Brigade, Counter Insurgency Uniform Force, 21 Corps and Delhi Area.
He has been an instructor and assistant adjutant at the NDA and the chief instructor at the School of Armoured Warfare, Armoured Corps Centre and School, Ahmednagar.
Lt Gen Seth has served with the United Nations Angola Verification Mission (UNAVEM-III) from 1995-96 as the operations officer, the officials said.
