Lieutenant General Pradeep Chandran Nair assumes charge as 21st Director General of the Assam Rifles (DGAR) on June 1. (Photo: PRO Defence, Kohima)
Lt Gen Pradeep Chandran Nair takes charge as DGAR
Dimapur, June 1 (MExN): Lieutenant General Pradeep Chandran Nair, AVSM, YSM, the former Inspector General Assam Rifles (North), Kohima in Nagaland has assumed the charge as the 21st Director General of the Assam Rifles (DGAR) on June 1.
According to an official release, Lt Gen Nair has vast experience of Assam Rifles and the North East, having served earlier as IG and a Company Commander of the oldest paramilitary force of India as well as commanding AR battalions as a Brigade Commander.
Earlier, Lt Gen Nair took charge of IGAR (N) Kohima on July 1, 2018 and held the position for nearly two years, before proceeding to Army Headquarter, New Delhi in March 2020. He was succeeded as IGAR (N) by Major General Viresh Pratap Singh Kaushik on March 20, 2020.
At the Army HQ, Lt Gen Nair last assignment was the Director General Recruiting, responsible for recruiting officers and jawans in the Indian Army.
Meanwhile, the release from PRO (Def) Kohima Lt Col Sumit K Sharma informed that Lt Gen Nair was first commissioned into the 18th Sikh Regiment in 1985 and had commanded the battalion in Siachen Glacier and Assam.
An alumnus of Sainik School Satara, National Defence Academy, Defence Services Staff College, College of Defence Management and the Indian Institute of Public Administration, Lt Gen Nair has served the Indian Army in various capacities.
In the North East, he had been a Company Commander in Manipur and Sikkim, Battalion Commander in Assam, Brigade Commander in Manipur and most recently as the IGAR (N) in Nagaland.
Lt Gen Nair has also been an instructor in Infantry School, Mhow; Indian Military Training Team, Bhutan; and a Directing Staff at the Defence Services Staff College, the release said.
He was decorated with the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal during his command as the IGAR (N) in Nagaland, Yudh Seva Medal during his command of a Brigade in Manipur and the Chief of Army Staff Commendation Card on three occasions, it added.
Lt Gen Nair took over command of the Assam Rifles after the incumbent Lt Gen Sukhdeep Sangwan, AVSM, SM** tenure superannuated on May 31, after a career spanning over 40 years.
Lt Gen Pande takes over Eastern Command
Meanwhile, Lt Gen Manoj Pande, AVSM, VSM took over the reins of Eastern Command as its General Officer Commanding-in-Chief on June 1.
Prior to this, he was Commander-in-Chief Andaman & Nicobar Command, the only Tri- services Operational Command in India from June 2020 to May 31 2021, informed on official release from Ministry of Defence.
Commissioned into the Bombay Sappers in December 1982, Lt Gen Pande has held several command and staff assignments in Conventional as well as Counter Insurgency Operations in all types of terrain, it said.
Among other, he commanded an Engineer Regiment along Line of Control during Operation PARAKRAM in Jammu and Kashmir; an Engineer Brigade in Western Sector, Infantry Brigade along Line of Control in J&K; Mountain Division in High Altitude Area of Western Ladakh; and a Corps in North East, it added.
