Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Ajai Singh

PVSM Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of India. It is the highest peacetime medal of the Indian Armed Forces, and is awarded for "dist ...

AVSM Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM, ) is a military award of India given to recognize "distinguished service of an exceptional order" to all ranks of the armed forces. The award is a peacetime equivalent of Uttam Yuddh Seva Medal, which is a Wartime ...

is a retired

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

general. He served as the 16th

Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command (CINCAN) is the head of the Andaman and Nicobar Command, the first and only Joint warfare, Tri-service Theater (warfare), theater command of the Indian Armed Forces, based at Sri Vijaya Puram (for ...

(CINCAN). He assumed command from Lieutenant-General Manoj Pande, PVSM, AVSM, VSM on 1 June 2021.

Early life and education

Singh was born in an army family. He is a fifth-generation soldier, all of them in the cavalry or armoured corps. The family has been in the army for over 162 years. He attended

The Lawrence School, Sanawar The Lawrence School, Sanawar, is the oldest private boarding school in Himachal Pradesh, which is located in Kasauli near Solan city. Established in 1847, its history, influence, and wealth have made it one of the most prestigious and oldest sc ...

. He subsequently attended the

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces. Here, cadets of the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force train together before they go on to their respective service a ...

as part of the 63rd course. He then was part of the 73rd course of the

Indian Military Academy The Indian Military Academy (IMA) is one of the oldest military academies in India, and trains officers for the Indian Army. Located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, it was established in 1932 following a recommendation by a military committee set up ...

. He holds four master's degrees: an MBA with ORSA specialisation, an MSc in defence studies, an MPhil in defence and management studies and an MA in International Security and Strategy from

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

Career

Singh was commissioned in the 81st Armoured Regiment on 17 December 1983. His father had raised the regiment a decade earlier. As a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

, he commanded a rifle company of the

Maratha Light Infantry The Maratha Light Infantry is a light infantry regiment of the Indian Army. It traces its lineage to the Bombay Sepoys, raised in 1768, making it the most senior light infantry regiment in the Indian Army. Recruitment The class composition o ...

during

Operation Meghdoot Operation Meghdoot was the codename for the Indian Armed Forces operation to take full control of the Siachen Glacier in Ladakh. Executed on the morning of 13 April 1984, it marks the highest battlefield in the world. This operation preempted Pa ...

and the

Kargil War The Kargil War, was fought between India and Pakistan from May to July 1999 in the Kargil district of Ladakh, then part of the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir (state), Jammu and Kashmir and along the Line of Control (LoC). In In ...

, receiving the COAS Commendation for Gallantry. He also served with

MONUA The United Nations Observer Mission in Angola (MONUA, Mission d'Observation des Nations Unies à l'Angola) was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1118 of 30 June 1997. Due to the collapse of the peace process in Angola, UN ...

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

as a United Nations military observer. Singh has attended a mountaineering course at the

High Altitude Warfare School The High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS) is a defence service training and research establishment of the Indian Army. In 1948, the Indian Army established a ski school in Gulmarg that later became the High Altitude Warfare School, which special ...

and tank gunnery & technology courses. He was also selected to attend a United Nations Senior Mission Leader Course in Indonesia as well as the

Royal College of Defence Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest leve ...

(RCDS), London.

General officer

Promoted to the rank of major general, Singh was appointed

general officer commanding General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

of a division. He then held the post of Additional Director General Military Operations (ADGMO) at Army headquarters. As a

he served as Director General Financial Planning and later Director General Military Training (DGMT) at Army HQ. On 30 July 2019, he was appointed the 30th

X Corps 10th Corps, Tenth Corps, or X Corps may refer to: France * 10th Army Corps (France) * X Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars Germany * X Corps (German Empire), a unit of the Imperial German Army * ...

at Bathinda.

Awards and decorations

Dates of rank

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Ajai Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Alumni of King's College London Indian Army officers Indian generals Commanders-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Graduates of the Royal College of Defence Studies Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal