Lieutenant General Bikram Singh will be the next Chief of the Indian Army

Eastern Army Commander Lieutenant General Bikram Singh will be the next Chief of the Indian Army. He will succeed General Vijay Kumar Singh, who retires on May 31. 59-year-old Lieutenant General Bikram Singh, will head the 13-lakh strong force and have a tenure of just over two years till August 2014 from May 31, 2012.

Lt. Gen. Bikram Singh was commissioned into the Sikh Light Infantry Regiment on March 31, 1972 and during the last four decades, he has served in a variety of Command and Staff appointments.

Besides having commanded a Corps in the Northern Command, he served as Deputy Force Commander of the multination U.N. Peace Keeping Mission in Congo. He also served as U.N. observer in Nicaragua and El Salvador during early 1990s.

Lt. Gen. Bikram Singh has studied with distinction at the Defence Services Staff College, the Army War College and the U.S. Army War College, Pennsylvania. He also has an M. Phil in Defence Management from Indore University. He is a recipient of the PVSM, the UYSM, the AVSM, the Sena Medal and the VSM and was one of the Honorary ADCs to the President of India.