New Delhi, May 31: Gen Bikram Singh, who has promised to strengthen the work culture and core values of the military, today took over as Army Chief succeeding Gen V K Singh whose tenure towards the end was tumultuous.
A veteran infantry officer, 59-year-old Gen Bikram Singh will have a term of two years and three months.
Known to his friends as ‘Bikki', the new Chief has outlined his priorities as ensuring operational readiness of the army and strengthening its work culture and core values.
The outgoing Chief had written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in March saying that the army was facing critical shortages of ammunition. In this context, he had said that air defence systems were 97 per cent obsolete and only four days of tank ammunition was left in stock.
He had also alleged that a retired officer had offered bribe to him to secure clearance for a truck deal. On his part, Defence Minister A K Antony asked officials to forget the “turbulence” of recent times and not to carry its “baggage”.
In the last over one year, the Defence Ministry and the army were engaged in a running battle over Gen V K Singh's date of birth issue and some other issues which had brought strains in the relationship between them.
The Minister said the “turbulent phase and bitterness” of the last several months should be forgotten by all.
For Gen Bikram Singh, there were some stumbling blocks in his ascent to the top post. A case of fake encounter was filed in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in which he has been given a clean chit.
He also faced the prospect of losing out in the race for the Chief's position if Gen V K Singh had succeeded in his fight to get his date of birth treated as May 10, 1951 instead of a year earlier.
A public face of the army during the 1999 Kargil conflict as a spokesperson, Gen Bikram headed the Kolkata-based Eastern Army Command prior to his new assignment.
Earlier, he has held several important appointments in counter insurgency areas as the Corps Commander of Srinagar-based 15 Corps and Akhnoor-based 10 Division as Major General.
Gen Bikram Singh was handed over the baton at South Block at a brief ceremony by Gen V K Singh, who retired after a stint mired in controversies.
“My priority would be to ensure operational readiness of the force... then to address the hollowness and ensure the modernisation process proceeds as per stipulated timeline and to strengthen Army's work culture and core values,” Lt Gen Bikram Singh said in an interview with Defence Ministry's journal ‘Sainik Samachar'.
“All commanders must endeavour to create a climate during their command tenures that hinges on our cherished core values, professional ethos and is conducive for growth and cohesion,” he said.
In his last media interaction as Army Chief, Gen V K Singh patted his back, saying that that a number of things had been achieved during his tenure and the force's internal health was better than when he took over in March 2010.
“We have been able to ensure that the hollowness that was affecting the Army has been addressed in a very cogent manner and we had support from Defence Minister (A K Antony), Gen V K Singh said adding that “We have achieved fairly good targets”.
The outgoing Chief had written a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in March saying that the army was facing critical shortages of ammunition. In this context, he had said that air defence systems were 97 per cent obsolete and only four days of tank ammunition was left in stock.
While taking over as the new Chief today, Gen Bikram Singh was accompanied by his wife Surjeet Kaur and few other relatives. The couple have two children.
They shook hands as Gen V K Singh ushered his successor to the Chief of Army Staff's chair.
The new Army Chief was commissioned in the Sikh Light Infantry regiment in 1972 and was awarded the ‘Commando Dagger' and the ‘Best in Tactics' trophy during his young officers' course at Infantry School.
Gen Bikram Singh has served as an instructor at the Commando Wing of the Infantry School in Belgaum, an honour he shares with his predecessor.
As a brigadier, Gen Bikram Singh attended the US Army War College in Pennsylvania and has served in two assignments with the United Nations in Central America and as the deputy force commander and GOC of Eastern Division in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
