New-Delhi: Lt Gen Anil Chauhan (retired) assumes charge as India’s new Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) on Friday (September 30).
The 61-year-old Chauhan will also function as Secretary in the Department of Military Affairs.
“I will try to fulfill expectations of the three services,” Gen Chauhan said.
On Wednesday, the government announced appointing Chauhan as the new Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), more than nine months after the post fell vacant following the death of Gen Bipin Rawat in a helicopter crash.
He retired from service on May 31 last year when he was serving as the Eastern Army Commander. After his retirement, he was serving as the military adviser to the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) headed by National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval.
Before assuming charge of the CDS, Gen Chauhan paid tributes to India’s fallen soldiers at the National War Memorial in the India Gate complex.
He was also accorded a tri-services guard of honour at the lawns of the South Block in the Raisina Hills.
Born on May 18, 1961, Gen Chauhan was commissioned into the 11 Gorkha Rifles of the Indian Army in 1981.
He was the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) of the Army during the Balakot air strikes in 2019, when Indian airplanes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp deep inside Pakistan.
General Chauhan is the first retired three-star officer to return to service in four-star rank.
Kalinga AI