Lt General Dhiraj Seth takes over as South Western Army chief

The command – the Indian Army’s youngest – has around 130,000 soldiers and is responsible for guarding India’s border with Pakistan in Rajasthan and Punjab

Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth on Wednesday took over as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Jaipur-based South Western Command, succeeding Lieutenant General BS Raju, who superannuated a day earlier, the army said in a statement.

Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth (Twitter/@adgpi)

Seth, son of a retired three-star general, has commanded the armoured regiment Skinner’s Horse, an armoured brigade, a counter-insurgency force in Jammu and Kashmir, and a strike corps on the western front in his military career, said the army.

Before assuming charge of the South Western Command (Sapta Shakti Command), he was the General Officer Commanding, HQ Delhi Area – a role in which he commanded the Republic Day parade, India’s biggest ceremonial event.

The command – the Indian Army’s youngest – has around 130,000 soldiers and is responsible for guarding India’s border with Pakistan in Rajasthan and Punjab.

Seth is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla and the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.

The staff appointments held by him include brigade major of an independent armoured brigade, assistant military secretary at MS Branch, brigadier general staff (operations) at South Western Command and three tenures in different branches at the Army headquarters, the army statement added.

On assuming command in Jaipur, Seth extended his greetings to all ranks of Sapta Shakti Command, veer naris (widows of fallen soldiers), veterans and defence civilian employees as well as their families.