The Narendra Modi government will soon announce the name of the new Chief of Army Staff (COAS), and also the country’s first four-star Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), a decision the armed forces have been awaiting with bated breath amid all the speculation.

In contention for the post of COAS are three officers whose names have been sent to the Prime Minister for final selection, The Print has learnt.

In August this year, The Print had reported that Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat is set to become the first CDS — the sole adviser to the government on all three services.

Gen Rawat retires on 31 December — three months before he turns 62, the upper age limit for service chiefs.

Sources said the name of the CDS and the new Army chief is likely to be announced at least two weeks before Gen Rawat’s retirement.

Contenders for the post of Army chief

According to sources, the three officers in contention forthe COAS post are Vice-Chief Lt Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane, Northern ArmyCommander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh and Southern Army Commander Lt Gen Satinder KumarSaini.

Lt Gen Naravane, who has also served as the Eastern ArmyCommander and Commander of the Army Training Command (ARTRAC), is thesenior-most among the three.

Known as the quintessential Army man, Lt Gen Naravane, from7th Sikh Light Infantry, took over as the Vice-Chief on 1 September 2019 andhas vast experience in counter-insurgency operations both in Kashmir and thenortheast. He has also commanded a battalion of the Army’s counter-terrorismunit in Kashmir — Rashtriya Rifles.

The officer was part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force whenit was deployed in Sri Lanka during the civil war, and served as India’sdefence attache at the Indian embassy in Myanmar for three years.

Sources said Naravane is the front-runner to take over asthe Chief of Army Staff. However, given the Modi government’s record ofignoring seniority while selecting the military chiefs, Lt Gen Singh is astrong contender too.

He was the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) duringthe 2016 surgical strikes.

During the 2015 Myanmar operation, he was Additional DirectorGeneral of Military Operations (ADGMO). He is seen as the face of the operationbecause he read out the official statement to the media after the strikes.

Commissioned into the 9th Battalion of the Dogra Regiment,he has vast experience in planning both operational and information warfare ashe has served in the Military Operations directorate as a Colonel, Brigadier,Major General and Lieutenant General. He served as Deputy Chief of Army Staff(Information Systems and Training) before taking over the Northern Command.Incidentally,he is a beneficiary of the Modi government’s decision to lower the servicetenure one must have left for selection as an Army commander. While it was 24months until 2017, it now stands at 18 months.