The Government of India has appointed Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, presently serving as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff (VCOAS), the next Chief of the Army Staff. The present Chief of the Army Staff, General Upendra Dwivedi, PVSM, AVSM, retires on June 30, 2026. Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, and was commissioned into the Armoured Corps in December 1986.

The Indian Army gets its first chief from the Armoured Corps in three decades— the last chief General Shankar Roychowdhury, retired on September 30, 1997.

Lt General Seth was commissioned into the 2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse) on 20 December 1986 from the Indian Military Academy. He served with the United Nations Angola Verification Mission III as an operations officer from 1995 to 1996 and has done instructional tenures as an instructor and assistant adjutant at the National Defence Academy (NDA), and as an instructor at the School of Armoured Warfare, Ahmednagar.

Lt General Dhiraj Seth’s command assignments include an Armoured Regiment in the Desert Sector, an Armoured Brigade in the Western Theatre, and a Counter-Insurgency Force in Jammu & Kashmir. He has served as brigade major of an independent Armoured brigade, as the Assistant Military Secretary in the Military Secretary's Branch, as Brigadier General Staff (Operations) at the South Western Command, as a Brigadier General Planning with the Strategic Planning Directorate and as the Additional Director General Weapons and Equipment.

As Lieutenant General, he commanded the Sudarshan Chakra Corps, one of the Indian Army's premier strike formations. He subsequently served as General Officer Commanding, Delhi Area, overseeing key national and international military engagements and ceremonial responsibilities.

On 1 November 2023, Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth took over as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) South Western Command, succeeding Lieutenant General B. S. Raju, who superannuated on 31 October 2023. On 1 July 2024, he took over as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command, succeeding Lieutenant General Ajai Kumar Singh. On 1 April 2026, Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth took over the appointment of Vice Chief of the Army Staff  (VCOAS), succeeding Lieutenant General Pushpendra Pal Singh.

An accomplished military professional, Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth has consistently excelled in professional military education, securing top positions in courses of instruction. He is a graduate of the Higher Command Course and the National Defence College, and has also attended the prestigious Command & Staff Course in Paris, reflecting his broad strategic outlook and understanding of contemporary military affairs.

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