Manoj Pande (general)


Manoj Chandrashekhar Pande, AVSM, VSM is a serving General Officer in the Indian Army. He is the Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command. He assumed office on 1 June 2020, succeeding Lt Gen Podali Shankar Rajeshwar.

Early life and education

Pande was born to Dr. C G Pande, a consulting Psychotherapist who retired as the Head of the Department of Psychology of the Nagpur University, and Prema, an announcer and host with the All India Radio. The family hails from Nagpur.

Career

Pande was commissioned into the Bombay Sappers, one of the regiments in the Corps of Engineers, in December 1982. He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and Indian Military Academy. He has also attended the Staff College, Camberley, the Army War College, Mhow and the prestigious National Defence College.
Pande has commanded an Engineer Regiment along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir. He has also commanded an Engineer brigade as part of a Strike Corps and an infantry brigade, along the LOC. He also commanded a mountain division in high-altitude operations in western Ladakh.
Pande has served in staff appointments at brigade and division headquarters. As a Lieutenant Colonel, he served as the Chief Engineer at the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea. He served a tenure in the Military Operations directorate at Army Headquarters as the Additional Director General. Promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General, he served as the Chief of Staff of the Southern Command. He last served as the Director General at Army HQ dealing with subjects of Discipline, Ceremonial and Welfare.
On 30 December 2018, Pande took command of the IV Corps at Tezpur from Lt Gen Gurpal Singh Sangha. The corps is deployed along the Line of Actual Control as well as in Counter-insurgency operations in the North-East. On 30 April 2020, Pande was appointed the next Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command. He assumed command on 1 June 2020 after the incumbent Lt Gen P S Rajeshwar superannuated on 31 May 2020.

Honours and decorations

He is a recipient of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and the Vishisht Seva Medal. Apart from these, he has been awarded the Chief of the Army Staff Commendation Card and two GOC-in-C commendation cards.

Dates of rank