Lieutenant General Rajesh Pushkar, currently serving as the General Officer Commanding of 2 Corps at Ambala, has been appointed as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) of the Southern Command, while Lieutenant General Mohit Malhotra will take over as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the South-Western Command.
An Armoured Corps officer, Lt Gen Pushkar is scheduled to take over his new appointment in Pune on July 1, replacing the incumbent, Lt Gen Sandeep Jain, an infantry officer who has taken over from the Army Chief designate, Lt Gen Dhiraj Seth, in April 2026.
Lt Gen Malhotra, also an Armoured Corps officer, will take over the reins of the South-Western Command at Jaipur from Lt Gen Manjinder Singh, an Infantry officer, who superannuates at the end of this month.
Lt Gen Pushkar is Colonel of the 74 Armoured Regiment, also known as the Desert Hawks, that was raised at Ahmednagar in June 1972 and is presently equipped with the T-90 main battle tanks
An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, he had taken over as the 2 Corps Commander in July 2024. In a career panning about 35 hears, Lt Gen Pushkar has commanded an armoured regiment in an operational area, a strategic independent armoured brigade and an infantry division in the western sector.
In addition, he has served with the Indian Military Training Team in Bhutan, had a tenure as the defence attache in teh Indian Embassy in Moscoe and tenanted the appointment of Director General Territorial Army at Army Headquarters.
Lt Gen Pushkar is the brother-in-law of Member of Parlaiment Sashi Tharoor. “Knowing his military brilliance, his stellar record, and his absolute dedication to the uniform, I have no doubt that he will lead with the highest distinction. It is a moment of profound pride for our entire family, and a reassuring moment for the nation, to see such an exceptional and dedicated officer ascend to a position of such monumental responsibility,” Tharoor said on his X handle on Friday.
Lt Gen Malhotra is presently posted as the Chief of Staff, eastern Command in Kolkata. Commissioned into the 47 Armoured Regiment in June 1989, Lt Gen Malhotra is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and the Advanced Command and Staff Course, United Kingdom. He has earlier commanded the 1 Armoured Division at Patiala and the 12 Corps at Jodhpur.
