New Delhi: Indian Army’s former Eastern Command chief, Lt Gen Anil Chauhan (retd) was on Wednesday appointed the second Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), with effect from the date of his assumption of charge and until further orders, an official statement said. He will also function as Secretary, Department of Military Affairs.

Lt Gen Chauhan (retd) succeeds the first CDS, former Army chief, Gen Bipin Rawat who had died in a helicopter crash on December 8 last year. In a career spanning over nearly 40 years, Lt Gen Chauhan has held several command, staff and instrumental appointments and had extensive experience in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and northeast India.

Commissioned into 11 Gorkha Rifles in 1981, he is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. As Major General, he had commanded an Infantry Division in the critical Baramulla sector in the Northern Command, and as Lt General, commanded a corps in the northeast and subsequently went on to become the Eastern Command chief from September 2019 and held the charge until his retirement from service in May 2021.

In addition to these command appointments, he has also held important staff appointments including the charge of Director General of Military Operations. He had also served on a United Nations mission to Angola.