The recent appointment of Lieutenant General Bipin Rawat as the new Army chief sparked a controversy as the decision ignored the principle of seniority followed in the armed forces.
The government countered the arguments saying that Rawat was the “best-suited” candidate to deal with emerging challenges in Kashmir and the North-East.
Rawat superseded Southern Command chief PM Hariz as well as senior-most Army commander Lt Gen Praveen Bakshi, who heads the Eastern Command and was next in line to be the Army chief.
According to a Hindustan Times report, Rawat phoned both generals on Sunday, “seeking their involvement in planning the future of the force”. Other details of the conversation are unknown.
Sources in the Kolkata-based Eastern Command and the Pune-based Southern Command confirmed the news to the daily.
(With inputs from Hindustan Times)
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