Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth will take over as the country’s next Army chief from General Upendra Dwivedi, who retires on June 30, according to a government order issued on Saturday. He will be the first officer from the Armoured Corps to lead the service in nearly three decades.
An alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla, and the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, Seth was commissioned into the 2nd Lancers on December 20, 1986.
Seth, who is currently the Army’s vice chief, will hold office until August 31, 2028, the order added. General S Roy Chowdhury was the last Armoured Corps officer to hold the top position, between 1994 and 1997.
An alumnus of the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla, and the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, Seth was commissioned into the 2nd Lancers on December 20, 1986. Known for his professionalism and military acumen, he attended the Defence Services Command and General Staff Course at the Military College in Paris, the International Defence Acquisition Management Course at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, the Higher Command Course at Mhow, and the National Defence College in New Delhi.
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“Over a distinguished military career spanning nearly four decades, he has had extensive experience across the operational, strategic, capability development and institutional domains, contributing significantly to the Indian Army’s combat effectiveness and long-term transformation,” the defence ministry said, announcing his appointment.
Seth, the 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, a strike corps on the western front, the Jaipur-based South Western Command and the Pune-based Southern Command.
The officer has the rare distinction of commanding two operational Army Commands and providing strategic oversight across critical theatres for over two-and-a-half years, the defence ministry said. He has held several key appointments that significantly influenced operational planning, force management and capability development, it said.
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“Widely recognised for his contributions to force modernisation, the General Officer has held pivotal appointments in the strategic planning and capability development verticals of the Army headquarters, shaping the army’s modernisation trajectory, capability roadmap and long-term force structuring initiatives. His contributions have been instrumental in aligning operational requirements with emerging technologies and future battlefield imperatives,” the ministry said.
His staff appointments include brigade major of an independent armoured brigade, assistant military secretary at the MS Branch, brigadier general staff (operations) at South Western Command, and three tenures in different branches at Army headquarters, including director general (discipline, ceremonial and welfare).
He has also been an instructor and assistant adjutant at the NDA, and colonel instructor at the School of Armoured Warfare, the Armoured Corps Centre and School, Ahmednagar. He served as an operations officer with the United Nations Angola Verification Mission-III from 1995 to 1996. Seth has consistently excelled in professional military education, securing top positions in courses of instruction, the defence ministry added in a statement.
His appointment as Army chief comes days after General NS Raja Subramani took over as Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and Admiral Krishna Swaminathan as the new Navy chief, filling the top military posts ahead of a major command restructuring.
The top appointments come at a pivotal moment as the armed forces advance theatreisation, a long-awaited reform designed to integrate the military’s resources for future conflicts. The model involves raising a China-centric Northern Theatre Command in Lucknow, a Pakistan-centric Western Theatre Command in Jaipur, and a Maritime Theatre Command in Thiruvananthapuram. The government last year identified establishing theatre commands as a key area for focused intervention to ensure integrated force application, operational efficiency, and optimal resource utilisation.
In a recent interview with HT, General Dwivedi pitched theatreisation as key to future combat readiness, while stressing that such a major military reform demands careful execution.
“A reform of this scale cannot be rushed. It has to be operationally sound, legally supported, administratively workable and future-ready,” he said. Theatreisation is a far-reaching reform designed to integrate the military’s resources for future conflicts. Steering it forward is a top priority for General Subramani.
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