Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi has been appointed as the future leader of the Indian Army. Lt General Dwivedi, who is now Vice Chief of the Army Staff, will succeed General Manoj C Pande on June 30.

India appoints its new Army Chief: Who is Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi?

India's army chief MM Naravane and Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla will visit Myanmar next week. The visit comes even as China has been trying to increase influence in India's neighbourhood.

This is the first visit of the army chief outside the country amid the COVID pandemic and India China tensions at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Notably, army chief MM Naravane has served as India's defence attache to Myanmar in the past.

This will be Shringla's second trip outside the country amid the pandemic. He has already visited Bangladesh. Last week, he had a virtual meet with his Myanmar counterpart -- Permanent Secretary, U Soe Han. He informed that New Delhi would operationalise the Sittwe port in the first quarter of next year .

Shringla said, "Despite the challenges caused by the COVID pandemic, we are working towards operationalising the Sittwe Port by the first quarter of next year."

COVID crisis, the vaccine, Rohingya repatriation were other key issues of the meet.&nbsp;

On the security front, Myanmar recently handed over of 22 Indian insurgents which was "deeply appreciated by the Government of India and sends a strong message of deterrence to inimical elements on both sides," FS Shringla said at the meet.

India's army chief MM Naravane and Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla will visit Myanmar next week. The visit comes even as China has been trying to increase influence in India's neighbourhood.

India's army chief MM Naravane and Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla will visit Myanmar next week. The visit comes even as China has been trying to increase influence in India's neighbourhood. This is the first visit of the army chief outside the country amid the COVID pandemic and India China tensions at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Notably, army chief MM Naravane has served as India's defence attache to Myanmar in the past. This will be Shringla's second trip outside the country amid the pandemic. He has already visited Bangladesh. Last week, he had a virtual meet with his Myanmar counterpart -- Permanent Secretary, U Soe Han. He informed that New Delhi would operationalise the Sittwe port in the first quarter of next year . Shringla said, "Despite the challenges caused by the COVID pandemic, we are working towards operationalising the Sittwe Port by the first quarter of next year." COVID crisis, the vaccine, Rohingya repatriation were other key issues of the meet. On the security front, Myanmar recently handed over of 22 Indian insurgents which was "deeply appreciated by the Government of India and sends a strong message of deterrence to inimical elements on both sides," FS Shringla said at the meet.

India's army chief, foreign secretary to visit Myanmar

The opposition on Sunday raised questions as to why the government decided to supersede two senior officers to appoint Lieutenant General Bipin Rawat as the next army chief of India.

Rawat superseded Lt Gens Praveen Bakshi and PM Hariz to take over the reins of the Indian army.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari said there is a &quot;legitimate question&quot; behind Rawat&#39;s elevation.

&quot;With all due respect to Gen Rawat&#39;s professionalism and no personal animus towards anybody, there is a legitimate question that why has that supersession taken place,&quot; he said.

He said now the argument the government will give that Congress did supersession in the 80s and, therefore it has the right to do so is a &quot;complete nonsense&quot;. 
 
&quot;Every situation has its own context and, therefore nothing can be extrapolated out of context in order to justify a supersession. So, therefore the government needs to answer this legitimate question as to why these senior army commanders were superseded,&quot; he said. 
 
&quot;Did the government have anything against them? Was their professionalism in question? What was the reason and I guess the army being a public institution the country deserves those answers,&quot; Tewari said.

Supersession is not new in appointment of army chiefs.

In 1983, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had appointed Lt Gen A S Vaidya as army chief superseding Lt Gen S K Sinha, who resigned in protest.

Earlier in 1972, the Gandhi government side-stepped the very popular Lt General P S Bhagat, one of the handful of Indian Victoria Cross awardees from World War II, who was in line to succeed General (later Field Marshal) Sam Manekshaw.

India&#39;s Left leader D Raja also questioned the government&#39;s move and said appointments have become controversial. 
 
&quot;Appointments in the army have become controversial, the appointments in the judiciary are already controversial, the appointments of CVCs, CBI director and to Central Information Commission, all these top-level appointments are becoming very controversial,&quot; he said. 
 
Terming this as &quot;very unfortunate&quot;, Raja said it is not in the interest of democracy and the country. 
 
He said there should be transparency and transparency should go along with integrity and nobody should raise questions. &quot;But now questions are being raised,&quot; he added.

(WION with inputs from PTI)

They are asking as to why Lt Gen Bipin Rawat superseded two officers to get the coveted post

The opposition on Sunday raised questions as to why the government decided to supersede two senior officers to appoint Lieutenant General Bipin Rawat as the next army chief of India. Rawat superseded Lt Gens Praveen Bakshi and PM Hariz to take over the reins of the Indian army. Congress spokesperson Manish Tiwari said there is a "legitimate question" behind Rawat's elevation. "With all due respect to Gen Rawat's professionalism and no personal animus towards anybody, there is a legitimate question that why has that supersession taken place," he said. He said now the argument the government will give that Congress did supersession in the 80s and, therefore it has the right to do so is a "complete nonsense". "Every situation has its own context and, therefore nothing can be extrapolated out of context in order to justify a supersession. So, therefore the government needs to answer this legitimate question as to why these senior army commanders were superseded," he said. "Did the government have anything against them? Was their professionalism in question? What was the reason and I guess the army being a public institution the country deserves those answers," Tewari said. Supersession is not new in appointment of army chiefs. In 1983, the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had appointed Lt Gen A S Vaidya as army chief superseding Lt Gen S K Sinha, who resigned in protest. Earlier in 1972, the Gandhi government side-stepped the very popular Lt General P S Bhagat, one of the handful of Indian Victoria Cross awardees from World War II, who was in line to succeed General (later Field Marshal) Sam Manekshaw. India's Left leader D Raja also questioned the government's move and said appointments have become controversial. "Appointments in the army have become controversial, the appointments in the judiciary are already controversial, the appointments of CVCs, CBI director and to Central Information Commission, all these top-level appointments are becoming very controversial," he said. Terming this as "very unfortunate", Raja said it is not in the interest of democracy and the country. He said there should be transparency and transparency should go along with integrity and nobody should raise questions. "But now questions are being raised," he added. (WION with inputs from PTI)

Opposition questions India's new army chief's appointment

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India appoints its new Army Chief: Who is Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi?

India's army chief, foreign secretary to visit Myanmar

Opposition questions India's new army chief's appointment