Lt Gen Ajai Singh, AVSM assumed charge as the 16th Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman & Nicobar Command (CINCAN) on 01 June 21. The Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) is the only tri-services theatre command of the country and is a harbinger of the larger similarly planned theaterisation of the country’s Army, Navy and Air Force capabilities.
A fifth generation Army as well as Cavalry/ Armoured Corps officer, with family service of over 162 years since 13 Sep 1858, he is an alumnus of The Lawrence School, Sanawar & the NDA and IMA. He was commissioned in Dec 1983, into 81 Armoured Regiment, a Regiment raised by his late father.
The General officer has had the privilege of tenanting various appointments across all six of the Army’s geographical Commands, as well as at the Army Training Command.
He has been an Instructor of Tank Gunnery & Tactics at the Armoured Corps Centre & School and also served at important assignments at the Army HQ, HQ Integrated Defence Staff (IDS) as well as with the UN as a Military Observer at Angola.
He has also undertaken volunteer tenures for counter-insurgency operations in the Kashmir Valley and in North East, where he was posted at a Mountain Division on the border. As a Major with over 16 years of service, the General had also volunteered for a tenure on the Siachen Glacier and was posted to a Battalion of the Maratha Light Infantry, with whom he commanded a Rifle Company in Operations VIJAY (Kargil) and MEGHDOOT (Siachen Glacier) and received the Army Chief’s Commendation for gallantry.
The General has also held sensitive posts at the Army HQ as the Additional DG at the Military Operations Directorate, and has been the Director General (DG) of Financial Planning and also the Director General of Military Training.
Other than a Rifle Company in active operations, Lt Gen Ajai Singh has commanded an Armoured Regiment, Brigade & Division and a Corps deployed on the border in Punjab & Rajasthan.
He has attended numerous prestigious military courses as well as mountaineering courses at the High-Altitude Warfare School and tank gunnery and technology courses. Lt Gen Ajai was also selected to attend a UN Senior Mission Leader Course at Indonesia as well as the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) Course at the UK.
The officer’s civil educational qualifications include a BSc, an MBA with ORSA specialisation, an MSc in Defence Studies, an MPhil in Defence & Management Studies and an MA in International Security and Strategy from Kings College, London. He is currently pursuing a PhD on “Emerging Trends in China-Pak Relations with reference to CPEC and its implications for India”.
Lt Gen Ajai Singh has recently authored three key studies. These include the initial draft of the Army’s “Land Warfare Doctrine, 2018”, the “Army HQ Re-organisation Study, 2019” and an important Operational Study concluded in 2020.
The General was an active part of Flood Relief efforts in Uttarakhand in 2013, and in UP and Bihar in 2017 and Kerala in 2018, and the Govt’s Covid amelioration efforts.
During service of over 37 years, the General Officer has been awarded an AVSM and Commendation Cards eight times – thrice from Chiefs of the Army Staff, four times from Army Commanders and once from a CISC at HQ IDS.
In addition to being the CINCAN, he is also a Colonel of the Regiment of seven Armoured Regiments: 45 Cavalry and 55, 56, 58, 71, 81 & 86 Armoured Regiments.