Lt General Anil Chauhan (retired) appointed as next Chief of Defence Staff

Lt Gen Anil Chauhan was commissioned into the Indian Army's 11 Gorkha Rifles in 1981...

Digital Desk: The Government of India appointed Lt General Anil Chauhan (Retired) as the next Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) on Wednesday. Lt General Anil Chauhan will also serve as Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Military Affairs, according to a statement issued today by the Ministry of Defence.

Notably, Lt General Anil Chauhan (retd) was appointed as the new CDS more than nine months after Gen Bipin Rawat's death. 

"The Government has decided to appoint Lt General Anil Chauhan (Retired) as the next Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) who shall also function as Secretary to Government of India, Department of Military Affairs, with effect from the date of his assumption of charge and until further orders," it said.

"In a career spanning nearly 40 years, Lt Gen Anil Chauhan had held several command, staff, and instrumental appointments and had extensive experience in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu & Kashmir and North-East India,'' the Defence Ministry said in its notification.

Lt Gen Anil Chauhan was commissioned into the Indian Army's 11 Gorkha Rifles in 1981. He graduated from both the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun and the National Defense Academy in Khadakwasla.