Lt. General Anil Chauhan appointed as the new Chief of Defense Staff(CDS)

Indian govt. led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday decided to appoint Lt.General Anil Chauhan(Retired) as the new Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).

The appointment comes nearly 10 months after Gen Bipin Rawat’s death in a chopper crash. India’s first Chief of Defence Staff Gen.Rawat and his wife were killed in December last year after a military chopper crashed in Tamil Nadu, killing 13 including defence staff on board.

According to a government release, Lt Gen Anil Chauhan — an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and Indian Military Academy, Dehradun — had held several commands, staff and instrumental appointments and had extensive experience in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu & Kashmir and the Northeast.

Born on May 18, 1961, Chauhan was commissioned into the 11 Gorkha Rifles of the Indian Army in 1981. The government statement said that Chauhan had commanded an Infantry Division in the critical Baramula sector in the Northern Command as Major General.

As Lt General, he commanded a corps in the Northeast and then went to become the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Command from September 2019 and held the charge until his retirement from the service in May 2021.

He was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Uttam Yudh Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Sena Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal for his distinguished and illustrious service in the Army.

His previous stints also include serving as the Director General of Military Operations and as a United Nations mission to Angola. Chauhan continued to contribute to national security and strategic matters even after retirement.