Lt. Gen. Dhiraj Seth | Officer at the helm

Lt. Gen. Dhiraj Seth, presently serving as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff, will assume office as the 31st Chief of the Army Staff on June 30, succeeding Gen. Upendra Dwivedi upon his retirement.

Lt. Gen. Seth will be the seventh officer from the Armoured Corps to assume the post. Of the previous six Armoured Corps officers who became Army chief, two took over after the position unexpectedly fell vacant. While the Infantry has produced most of India’s Army chiefs, five have come from the Corps of Artillery and one from the Corps of Engineers.

Lt. Gen. Seth is set to remain in office until August 31, 2028. The last Armoured Corps officer to head the Indian Army was Gen. S. Roy Chowdhury, who served as Army chief from 1994 to 1997.

A highly accomplished Armoured Corps officer with nearly four decades of distinguished service, Lt. Gen. Seth brings to the position extensive operational experience, strategic vision and a strong record in military modernisation.

An alumnus of the prestigious National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, and the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, Lt. Gen. Seth was commissioned into the Armoured Corps in December 1986. Throughout his career, he has served across diverse operational environments, from desert warfare formations to counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir.

He commanded an Armoured Regiment in the desert sector, an Armoured Brigade in the Western Theatre and a Counter-Insurgency Force in Jammu & Kashmir.

Following his promotion to Lieutenant General, he led the prestigious Sudarshan Chakra Corps, one of the Indian Army’s premier strike formations, before serving as General Officer Commanding, Delhi Area. He later commanded both South Western Command and Southern Command.

Lt. Gen. Seth has also held several key staff and strategic appointments. These include Brigade Major of an Independent Armoured Brigade in Jammu & Kashmir, Operations Officer with the UN Mission in Angola and Assistant Military Secretary at Army Headquarters.

Widely regarded as one of the architects of the Indian Army’s modernisation efforts, Lt. Gen. Seth has played a pivotal role in strategic planning, force structuring and capability development.

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Tri-service exercises

He also oversaw major operational preparedness and training activities, including large-scale joint and tri-service exercises focused on emerging domains such as cyber, information warfare, multi-domain operations and amphibious capabilities. Among these, Exercise Trishul reflected the growing emphasis on integrated operations and joint warfighting concepts. His tenure witnessed continued emphasis on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR), reflecting the Indian Army’s commitment to national resilience and support for civil authorities.

He has served as Colonel Capability Development for Mechanised Forces, Brigadier Perspective Plans and Acquisition, and Additional Director General Capability Development. In these capacities, he contributed to the Army’s Long-Term Integrated Perspective Planning process and future capability enhancement roadmap.

As General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command, he championed technology adoption, innovation and civil-military collaboration. A scholar-soldier, Lt. Gen. Seth is a graduate of the Higher Command Course and the National Defence College, and has attended advanced military courses in France and the U.S.

He comes from a military family. He is the son of Lt. Ge. Krishna Mohan Seth, former Adjutant General of the Indian Army and former Governor of Tripura and Chhattisgarh. The family shares a unique legacy, with both father and son having commanded the Sudarshan Chakra Corps. His younger brother, Rear Admiral Ravnish Seth, is a serving Flag Officer in the Indian Navy.

Lt. Gen. Dhiraj Seth assumes command at a crucial juncture marked by rapid technological advancements, evolving security challenges and an increasing emphasis on joint military operations. The task before him is to lead the Indian Army through its next phase of transformation and preparedness.