The Government of India has appointed Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth as the next Chief of Army Staff (COAS), with effect from the afternoon of June 30, 2026, according to an official release issued by the Ministry of Defence.
The present Army chief, General Upendra Dwivedi, retires from service the same day.
Seth, currently serving as Vice Chief of the Army Staff, is the seniormost officer at the next level and had been widely tipped for the top post since his elevation to Vice Chief of Army Staff on April 1, 2026.
Who Is Lt Gen Dhiraj Seth?
Seth is a son of Lt Gen Krishna Mohan Seth (Retd.), who was a former Adjutant-General of the Indian Army also holding corps-level commands. Now his son would go on to command the very same corps, a distinction rare in the institution's history.
An alumnus of Sainik School in Madhya Pradesh's Rewa, he was commissioned into the Regiment of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles in 1984.
The Training Days
Seth also trained at the National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy before being commissioned into the 2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse), one of the Armoured Corps' most storied regiments, in December 1986.
His academic record through military institutions was equally distinguished, he topped the Junior Command Course and walked away with the Best All Round Student Officer Medal at the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington.
He subsequently attended the Higher Command Course, the National Defence College, a Command and Staff Course in France, and a defence acquisition management programme in the United States.
Four Decades Across Every Major Theatre
Seth's operational career spans the breadth of the Indian Army's challenges. He commanded an Armoured Regiment in the desert sector and an Armoured Brigade before leading a counter-insurgency force in Jammu and Kashmir, a combination of conventional and sub-conventional warfare experience that few officers accumulate.
He also served with the United Nations Angola Verification Mission, adding an international operational dimension to his profile.
His rise through the command chain culminated in leading the XXI Corps, a premier strike formation on the Western Front, the same corps once commanded by his father.
Two Army Commands, One Officer
Seth is among a small group of officers to have helmed two operational Army Commands.
He led the South Western Command between November 2023 and June 2024, before taking charge of the Southern Command in Pune, one of the largest and most geographically expansive commands in the Army.
Together, the two tenures gave him continuous strategic oversight of the western theatre for over two and a half years.
The Modernisation Architect
Away from field commands, Seth has left a significant imprint on the Army's institutional direction. He has held senior roles in weapons acquisition, capability development and long-term force planning at Army Headquarters, and also served as Director General (Discipline, Ceremonial and Welfare).
He has shaped future military leadership as an instructor at both the NDA and the School of Armoured Warfare.
His service has been recognised with the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Uttam Yudh Seva Medal and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, alongside multiple commendations from the Chief of Army Staff and Army Commanders.
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