Navy Chief takes over Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee

New Delhi, Dec 29 (IANS) Navy Chief Sunil Lanba will take over charge as Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee on Saturday afternoon, and has been handed over the ceremonial baton by outgoing incumbent, IAF Chief Arup Raha.

The seniormost of the service chiefs is given the charge of the Chiefs of Staff Committee.

On Thursday, Air Chief Marshal Raha handed over the baton to Admiral Lanba at a ceremony in the South Block, which houses the Defence Ministry.

Lanba will assume the charge from the afternoon of December 31, the day Raha retires.

Army chief, Gen Dalbir Singh, who also retires from service on December 31, and Principal Staff Officers of all three Services and the Integrated Defence Staff were present on the occasion, an official statement said.

Admiral Lanba assumed command of the Indian Navy on 31 May 2016. He is a Navigation and Direction specialist and has served onboard numerous ships in both the Eastern and Western Fleets.

He is an alumnus of National Defence Academy (NDA), Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington, College of Defence Management (CDM) and Royal College of Defence Studies, London.

Air Chief Marshal Raha, the outgoing Chairman, COSC had taken over as Chairman COSC on August 1, 2014, and under his stewardship, she Services received a "vital boost in jointmanship", the statement said.

"During his tenure the Defence Communication Network got operationalised and training standards of the Tri Service Institutes such as NDA, DSSC and CDM were enhanced," the statement said.

"The much awaited National War Museum got approval from the government. He was instrumental in enhancing the role of military diplomacy with friendly foreign countries. Various humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations during crisis situations both within and outside India such as J&K floods, Chennai floods, evacuation of Indian and foreign nationals from Yemen and Nepal Earthquake were successfully conducted," it said.

"He also played a pivotal role in formulation of DPP-16 thereby streamlining and fast tracking Defence Procurement which has so far been plagued by laborious procedures and long delays," it said.