New Delhi: Government has approved the appointment of Lt Gen Manoj Chandrashekhar Pande as next Vice Chief of Army Staff as the incumbent Lt Gen Chandi Prasad Mohanty is due to retire on January 31, according to media reports.

Lt Gen Pande has tenanted important staff assignments and was posted as Chief Engineer at the United Nations Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea. He was Director-General at Army Headquarters dealing with subjects of discipline, ceremonial and welfare.

He  is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and was commissioned into the Corps of Engineers (The Bombay Sappers) in December 1982. He is a graduate of Staff College, Camberley (United Kingdom) and attended the Higher Command Course at Army War College, Mhow at Indore in Madhya Pradesh and National Defence College (NDC) at Delhi.

During his 37 years of distinguished service, he took an active part in Operation Vijay and Operation Parakaram.