Date of Birth: May 18, 1961
Hails from: Pauri Garhwal, Uttarakhand
Positions: Major General, Lieutenant General, DGMO, and Advisor to NSA.
The newly appointed Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Armed Forces, General Anil Chauhan, is a 4-star general and previously retired member of the Indian Army.
On Professional Front:
He is an alumnus of the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, and the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla. He began his 40-year military profession in 1981 when he was inducted into the eleventh Gorkha Rifles. In his final years of service, Chauhan held the position of major general when he oversaw an infantry battalion of the Northern Sector in Baramulla.
From 2017 to 2018, he held the position of lieutenant general, heading the Third Corps, which is situated in Nagaland. He was named the Director of General Military Operations in January 2018. During this time, he coordinated the accomplishment of two significant combat activities:
- The Operation Sunrise counter-insurgency assault by India and Myanmar
- The 2019 punitive strike against Pakistan.
After MM Naravane was promoted to the vice chief of the army’s staff in September 2019, Chauhan was named general officer commanding-in-chief (GOC-in-C) of the eastern division.
He held the position until May 2021. After he retired from active service in the Indian Army, Chauhan was a military advisor for Ajit Doval’s National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS).
The Narendra Modi-led administration named Chauhan as the 2nd Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) on September 28, 2022, making him the very first retiree to hold a four-star position. He replaced General Bipin Rawat, who died in a helicopter mishap in December 2021, nine months ago.
According to the Indian Express, on September 28, 2022, Gen Anil Chauhan was appointed as India’s second Chief of Defence Staff. “I will try to fulfil the expectations from the three defence forces,” said Chauhan as he assumed the office of CDS over nine months after the death of former CDS General Bipin Rawat.
“I’m proud to be assuming the responsibility of the highest rank in the Indian Armed Forces. I will try to fulfill the expectations of the three defence forces as the Chief of Defence Staff. We will tackle all challenges and difficulties together,” the new CDS Stated.
Early Life:
During his formative years, Chauhan studied at the Kendriya Vidyalaya Fort William in Kolkata. He subsequently earned degrees from the Indian Military Academy and the National Defence Academy.
On a Personal Front:
Chauhan is wed to the artist Anupama. The couple has a daughter named Pragya. As a lover of the arts, Chauhan has a particular fondness for Tibetan paintings, which he attributes to his wife. Interestingly, Chauhan comes from the Uttarakhand state’s Pauri Garhwal area, which coincidentally is also the ancestral home of two related individuals: Bipin Rawat, his forerunner as CDS, and Ajit Doval (NSA), a personal friend of his.
Besides his military duty, Chauhan also produced two books:: History of 11 Gorkha Rifles Regimental Centre, a background of the battalion he wrote while serving as its commanding officer, and Aftermath of A Nuclear Attack, an analysis of the repercussions of a nuclear assault that was released in 2010.
