Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Nov 27: Army Headquarters have carried out another major reshuffle of its top Commanders in Jammu and Kashmir appointing new General Officer Commanding (GOC), Chief of Staff (CoS) and created ‘Sub Area’ in Leh, which will have full fledged GOC under the command of Leh based 14 Corps.
This was second major reshuffle of top Army Commanders, the previous one being in July-August in which three new GOCs were appointed to Jammu, Kashmir and Leh based Corps.
Official sources told the Excelsior that Lt Gen Ashok Ambre is tipped to be new GOC of Yol Cantonment (Himachal Pradesh) based 9 Corps, which looks after three sensitive border districts of Jammu region including Jammu, Samba and Kathua. He will replace Lt Gen Rajeev Tewari.
Lt Gen Tewari is likely to be appointed as GOC of Kolkata in West Bengal.
Lt Gen Ambre had been Colonel General Staff of a Division in a Strike Corps. After command of a Brigade, he was posted as Commander, National Command Post in Strategic Forces Command, a very sensitive appointment. In 2012, he was posted to Army Headquarters to give impetus to the modernization of Infantry.
Lt Gen Ambre has been chosen to lead 9 Corps at a time when there were reports of large scale concentration of the militants all along the international boundary from Lakhanpur to Akhnoor.
Lt Gen Subrata Saha, who was transferred as GOC of Srinagar based 15 Corps and posted as Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) in August this year, has now been posted as deputy chief at Army Headquarters in New Delhi. With this, the post of DGMO remained vacant for past 27 days.
Former DGMO Lt Gen PR Kumar had retired last month. Additional DGMO Maj Gen Ranbir Singh is presently officiating as DGMO. The DGMOs of India and Pakistan speak to each other every Tuesday.
Maj Gen Gajendra Prasad has been appointed as Chief of Staff of Nagrota based 16 Corps in place of Maj Gen B Guha, who has been transferred and posted in Rajasthan. Prasad has taken over charge of the new assignment.
Maj Gen AK Das ,GOC of Srinagar based ‘Sub Area’ was transferred and posted as Additional Director General Public Information(ADGPI) to Army headquarters. He has been replaced by Maj Gen Mukesh Kumar.
Maj Gen KJS Gill has taken over as GOC Udhampur ‘Sub Area’ on the retirement of Maj Gen AP Rai.
Meanwhile, in a significant development, the Army Headquarters have created a new ‘Sub Area’ in Leh, the sensitive district, which has long and treacherous Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.
“A new GOC will be shortly posted in ‘Sub Area’ of Leh under the command of Leh based 14 Corps,’’ sources said.
The creation of new ‘Sub Area’ in Leh is being seen as very significant development as India was preparing itself to match strength of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China, which has advantage not only in terms of infrastructure on their side of LAC opposite Leh but also in manpower and weaponry.
Recently, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), which mans LAC along China border in Leh, had announced increase in number of their posts and manpower in Leh.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry for Surface Transport have taken series of initiatives to boost infrastructure along the LAC in Leh to match strength of the PLA. Simultaneously, India has taken several measures to maintain peace and tranquility on the LAC with China by increasing number of Border Meeting Points (BMPs) and holding regular meetings between the local Commanders.
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