According to a statement from the defense ministry, Lieutenant General Ajai Kumar Singh assumed control of the Indian Army’s Southern Command on Tuesday. In December 1984, Singh, a graduate of the National Defense Academy in Pune and the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun, was commissioned into the 7/11 Gorkha Rifles.
According to the statement, he has extensive operating expertise in all types of terrain, including desert locations, high elevations, and freezing glaciated parts of Siachen.
In addition to leading the 1/11 Gorkha Rifles on the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, an elite brigade in the Western Theatre, a frontline Counter Insurgency Force in the Kashmir Valley, and Trishakti Corps in the North East, he also held command of other units.
Additionally, Lt Gen A K Singh has held important leadership positions in education and administration, including Instructor at the Commando Wing in Belgaum, Additional Director General of Military Operations, and Director General (Operational Logistic & Strategic Movement) at the Integrated Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence (Army), New Delhi.
He has experience as both a diplomat and a military, having served as Officer-in-Charge, PPO Dharan at the Indian Embassy in Nepal.
After taking over, he visited the Southern Command War Memorial in Pune and laid a wreath in honour of the dead soldiers. Lieutenant General J. S. Nain, the departing Army commander, handed over the reins on Monday.
