General Dheeraj Seth on Tuesday took over as the 31st Chief of the Indian Army Staff, succeeding General Upendra Dwivedi, who retired after more than four decades of distinguished military service. The leadership change comes as the Army moves forward with force modernization, organizational restructuring and long-term capability development.
Seth held key positions in the strategic planning and capability development sectors at Army Headquarters, shaping the modernization path, capabilities roadmap and long-term force structuring initiatives, the Department of Defense said. “His contributions have been instrumental in aligning operational requirements with emerging technologies and future battlefield imperatives,” she said in a statement.
Seth, the son of a former three-star general and governor, was recognized for his efforts to modernize the force.
On his last day in office, Dwivedi emphasized enhanced synergy between the three services to achieve the goal of theater processing, the long-awaited reform designed to integrate the Army’s resources into future conflicts. “In the future, warfare will be more joint, more integrated and more theater-oriented. The direction of the armed forces is clear: see together, make decisions together, act together,” Dwivedi said.
Seth is the first Armored Corps officer to lead the service in nearly three decades. He will hold his position until August 31, 2028. General S Roy Chowdhury was the last Armored Corps officer to hold this top position, between 1994 and 1997.
Seth’s appointment comes at a pivotal moment as the armed forces advance theater. The Army is working to establish joint services commands, the main goal of the theater campaign. These commands will integrate military elements, assets and personnel from the three services under a single commander-in-chief. The model includes establishing a China-centric Northern Theater Command in Lucknow, a Pakistan-centric Western Theater Command in Jaipur, and a Naval Theater Command in Thiruvananthapuram.
An alumnus of the National Defense Academy, Khadakwasla, and the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, Seth was commissioned into the 2nd Lancers on 20 December 1986. Known for his professionalism and military acumen, Seth attended the Defense Services Command and General Staff Course at the Military College in Paris, the International Defense Procurement Management Course at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and the Mao High Command Course, National Defense. College in New Delhi.
Seth commanded the Skinner Horse Armored Regiment, an armored brigade, a counter-insurgency force in Jammu and Kashmir, an assault corps on the Western Front, the South-Western Command and the Southern Command.
“Over a distinguished military career spanning nearly four decades, he had extensive experience in operational, strategic, capability development and institutional areas, contributing significantly to the Indian Army’s combat effectiveness and long-term transformation,” the MoD said.
She added that Seth consistently excelled in professional military education and attained senior positions in educational courses.
His appointment comes a month after General NS Raja Subramani took over as Chief of Defense Staff and Admiral Krishna Swaminathan as the new Chief of the Navy.
With a new military leadership at the helm, India is poised to embark on far-reaching military reforms to ensure its armed forces are ready to meet future battlefield challenges, with the proposed establishment of a drone force, a data force and a defense geospatial agency, standing out among a host of goals it seeks to pursue and achieve by 2047 when the country celebrates the centenary of its independence.
A new roadmap, Defense Forces Vision 2047, also seeks to establish a Space Command, Cyber Command, Cognitive Warfare Task Force and a National Air Defense Shield under the Sudarshan Chakra Mission as the character of warfare rapidly evolves due to technological advancement.
