Northern Army commander Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi has been appointed as the next Vice Chief of Army Staff and will take over the charge on February 15, officials said.

He is presently heading the Northern Army Command. He will replace Lieutenant General MV Suchindra Kumar, sources said.

Reportedly, the two generals are set to exchange roles, as Kumar will transition to the position of General Officer Commanding-in-Chief at the Northern Command based in Udhampur next week.

Lt. Gen. Dwivedi has earlier been in Army Headquarters as the Deputy Chief and Director General of Infantry. He served for two years in the operationally active Northern Command at the time when India and China were engaged in a military standoff.

Kumar takes over the reins of the Northern Command at a time when India and China have been locked in a dragging military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh since May 2020, and a full resolution of the border crisis through ongoing negotiations still appears elusive. The situation along LAC in the Ladakh sector is “stable, yet sensitive,” Pande said in January.