Gen Pande, who was serving as the vice chief, became the first officer from the Corps of Engineers to helm the force.
The central government on Monday appointed Army Vice Chief Lieutenant General Manoj Pande as the next chief of Indian Army.
In the second ceasefire violation this week, Pakistani troops pounded Indian posts with mortar bombs and rockets and fired indiscriminately along Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.
Militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Umar Khatab was killed and an army jawan wounded in a fierce gun-battle in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Sunday. Khatab was killed in a gunfight with security forces in Bhatti-Dar area at Mendhar early on Sunday morning, said Brigadier General Staff (16 Coprs) S Dua. Acting on specific information that some militants were hiding in Bhatti-Dar area, Rashtriya Rifles troops and the police launched a search-and-cordon operation.
Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire along the Line of Control by opening fire on Indian posts in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday night.
Violating the ceasefire again, Pakistani troops targeted forward Indian posts along the Line of Control with rockets, mortars and resorted to heavy firing in Poonch district in the wee hours on Thursday.
Indian Army on Monday lodged a strong protest with its Pakistan counterpart over unprovoked firing from across the border on Indian posts along the Line of Control in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir which left a jawan critically injured.
In yet another ceasefire violation, Pakistani troops on Sunday opened fire on six Indian forward posts in Poonch sector of Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistani troops violated ceasefire by indulging in firing on six Indian posts from 9 am on Sunday along the Line of Control in Krishnaghati area, 210 kms from Jammu, Brigadier Gurdeep Singh, (16 Corps) said. He said that firing was going on intermittently after Indian troops retaliated.
In yet another violation of the ceasefire, Pakistani troops fired nearly 135 rounds on Indian positions in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Sunday night, but there were no casualties.
Contradicting the Centre's announcement that 35,000 troops were sent out of the border state, the Army on Monday said personnel were only relocated as per security demands and that there was no major pullout.
Violating the ceasefire, Pakistani troops fired rockets and used heavy machine guns on Indian posts along the Line of Control in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Security personnel on Friday night foiled an infiltration bid, after a brief encounter with militants along the Line of Control in Balakote area, nearly 190 km from Jammu. Troops patrolling the forward area along the Line of Control in Balakote in Poonch district observed some movement of militants and opened fire on them, said Brigadier General Staff, 16 Corps, Gurdeep Singh. Firing started from across the border, resulting in an exchange of gunfire for a brief period.
At least four-hundred militants are waiting across the Line of Control (LoC) to sneak into Kashmir, the Army has said. Talking to media in Srinagar, Brigadier General Staff (BGS) of the 15 Corps, Brigadier Gurmeet Singh said, "Four hundred militants are waiting at launch pads to sneak into the valley."
A 13-year-old girl was killed in the blast, which was targeted at an army convoy.
A huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from Keran sector along the Line of Control in Kashmir valley on Monday, even as the operation against militants holed up there entered the 14th day.
Two army generals on Sunday visited the Keran Sector along the LoC, where troops are engaged in a counter-infiltration operation against militants for the past 13 days, and took stock of the ground situation.
He was the army commander who planned Operation Bluestar. As army chief he planned Operation Brasstacks which rattled the Pakistan army. General K Sundarji was brilliant, ambitious and controversial, remembers Rahul Bedi.
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