Lt Gen Sanjeev Kumar Sharma to be deputy chief strategic planning in Army

Lt Gen Sanjeev Kumar Sharma will be the new Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Strategy), a post created last year to oversee the 1.3 million-strong Army's operations and intelligence directorates.

Lt Gen Sharma succeeds Lt Gen Paramjit Singh who became the first DCOAS(strategy) earlier this year.

Lt Gen Singh superannuated on Wednesday after 39 years of service in the Army. Lt Gen Sharma, serving as the Director-General of Military Intelligence, will take up the new assignment on Thursday, officials said.

The DCOAS(Strategy) was created as part of mega reforms in the Army headquarters, nearly three years after its need was felt during the 73-day Doklam standoff with the Chinese military in the Sikkim sector.

Lt Gen Sharma is an alumnus of Rashtriya Military School, Bengaluru and was commissioned into the Rajputana Rifles in December 1983.

He served in a wide spectrum of terrains and conflict zones besides holding a host of command, staff and instructional appointments.

Lt Gen Sharma commanded an infantry battalion in an active counter-insurgency environment in the North East, an infantry brigade deployed along the Line of Control and thereafter commanded an infantry division and a Corps in the Western sector.

An alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College Wellington and the National Defence College, Delhi, he has held several prestigious staff appointments including at the Military Operations Directorate, headquarters of Northern Army and at Chinar Corps.

He has been an instructor at the Indian Military Academy and has also served as a Military Observer with the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL).

The General officer holds a doctorate in defence and strategic studies from Pune University.