NEW DELHI: Lt Gen Rajiv Ghai, who became one of the most visible faces of the armed forces during Operation Sindoor as the director general of military operations (DGMO), is set to take over as the Military Advisor to the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS).
He will succeed Gen N S Raja Subramani, who recently took charge as the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), sources said.
With this, Lt Gen Ghai will become the first serving three-star general to occupy the post since the military wing in the NSCS was revived in 2018. All his predecessors, Lt Gen Vinod G Khandare (Retd), Gen Anil Chauhan (Retd), Air Marshal Sandeep Singh (Retd) and Gen Raja Subramani, took up the assignment only after hanging up their uniforms.
He will also be the first officer not holding the Army Commander or equivalent grade to be appointed to the position.
Incidentally, two of them, Gen Chauhan and Gen Raja Subramani, went on to become CDS from the post.
The Military Advisor (MA) serves as the critical bridge between the 1.4 million-strong armed forces and the country’s apex national security decision-making structure headed by National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.
The chosen MA provides military assessments on strategic, operational and geopolitical matters, coordinates with the three services on national security issues and feeds into long-term security planning, capability development and inter-ministerial consultations.
The post acquired greater salience after the government revived the military wing in the NSCS in October 2018 to institutionalise military inputs in national security policy formulation.
Commissioned into the Kumaon Regiment in December 1989, Lt Gen Ghai has over 15 months of service left. He is currently the Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Strategy), the crucial appointment that oversees the Army’s operations and intelligence verticals. He has earlier served as DGMO and commanded the Srinagar-based Chinar Corps, which is responsible for counter-terrorism operations and guarding the Line of Control in the Kashmir Valley.
An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Indian Military Academy, Defence Services Staff College, Army War College and National Defence College, the general officer has held a wide array of command, staff and instructional appointments in a career spanning over 36 years.
These include extensive tenures in J&K and the Northeast, stints in the Military Operations Directorate and the Integrated Defence Staff, as well as a UN mission in Lebanon.