Agency report

Deepak Kapoor

New Delhi, Jul 27: Lt Gen Deepak Kapoor will be the next Chief of the Army Staff. Now Vice-Chief of the Army Staff, Gen. Kapoor will take over from General J.J. Singh when he retires on September 30, official sources said.

With wide operational experience in both crucial Army theatres in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East, Lt. Gen. Kapoor’s appointment was seen in the Defence Ministry as a settled issue till two other Generals became contenders. However, as has been generally the case for the top armed force appointments, the Government decided to stick to the seniority-in-service principle.

In the case of naming the Indian Air Force Chief too, the Government maintained the seniority principle though Air Chief Marshal Homi Major was a helicopter pilot and was not from the fighter pilot stream which has given the bulk of the IAF chiefs.

Lt Gen Kapoor has commanded the 161 Brigade in Uri in J&K, the crucial 33 Corps in the North-East and, more important, the Northern Command in J&K.