On Wednesday, Lieutenant General M.V. Suchindra Kumar was named Vice Chief of the Army Staff, taking over from Lieutenant General B.S. Raju, who has now become the commander of the Sapta Shakti Command based in Jaipur, according to the Ministry of Defence. Prior to assuming the position of Vice Chief of the Army Staff, Lt General Kumar served as Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Strategy) at Army HQ, where he gained expertise in intelligence, operations, force structuring, operational logistics, and tech infusion in his recent postings.
The General Officer is a graduate of Sainik School Bijapur and the National Defence Academy, having been commissioned into 1 ASSAM REGIMENT in June 1985. He has led a variety of staff and instructional roles, including an instructional tenure at Infantry School, Mhow, Senior Operations Officer in the United Nations Sector in Cambodia, Colonel (Policy) in Military Secretary Branch, Indian Army Training Team at Lesotho, Brigadier General Staff (Operations) of a Corps in the Eastern Theatre, Additional Director General Military Intelligence, and Director General Military Intelligence at Army HQ. He has also completed courses on 'Cooperative Security in South Asia' in Sri Lanka and 'United Nations Senior Mission Leaders Course' in Egypt, in addition to attending the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington, the Higher Command Course in Mhow, and the National Defence College in New Delhi. The Ministry of Defence noted that his military papers have been published in various professional journals.