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Government of India has announced two senior appointments to the country’s highest military posts.
Lieutenant General N.S. Raja Subramani has been appointed as the next Chief of Defence Staff, while Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan will take charge as the next Chief of the Naval Staff. The incumbent CDS, General Anil Chauhan, completes his tenure on May 30, 2026, and the current CNS, Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, retires on May 31, 2026.
Both officers bring to their new roles careers of exceptional breadth, marked by operational experience across multiple theatres, significant command tenures, and the kind of institutional knowledge that comes only from decades of progressive responsibility.
Lieutenant General N.S. Raja Subramani, PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, is an officer of the Garhwal Rifles, commissioned into its 8th Battalion on December 14, 1985, after graduating from the National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy.
His career of over 40 years spans command, staff, and instructional appointments across a wide range of terrain and conflict profiles.
At the command level, he led 16 Garhwal Rifles in counter-insurgency operations in Assam under Operation Rhino, commanded 168 Infantry Brigade in Jammu & Kashmir and 17 Mountain Division in the Central Sector, and went on to command 2 Corps, the Indian Army’s premier strike corps on the Western Front.
His staff appointments have been equally wide-ranging, including tenures as Defence Attaché in Kazakhstan, Deputy Director General of Military Intelligence in the Integrated Headquarters of Ministry of Defence (Army), Assistant Military Secretary in the Military Secretary’s Branch, Brigadier General Staff (Operations) at Eastern Command, Chief Instructor (Army) at the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington, and Chief of Staff at Northern Command.
Lieutenant General N.S. Raja Subramani superannuated in July 2025 as Vice Chief of the Army Staff, concluding a 39-year military career during which he developed deep operational knowledge of both the western and northern borders.
He was subsequently appointed Military Adviser to the National Security Council Secretariat, and is now the second retired officer to be appointed as the Chief of Defence Staff.
He is an alumnus of the Joint Services Command Staff College, Bracknell, and the National Defence College, New Delhi, and holds a Master of Arts from King’s College London and an MPhil in Defence Studies from Madras University.
He has been awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Sena Medal, and Vishisht Seva Medal.
Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, was commissioned into the Indian Navy on July 1, 1987.
A specialist in Communication and Electronic Warfare and an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, he has also attended the Joint Services Command and Staff College, Shrivenham; the College of Naval Warfare, Karanja; and the United States Naval War College, Newport.
His seagoing career includes command of missile vessels INS Vidyut and INS Vinash, missile corvette INS Kulish, guided missile destroyer INS Mysore, and aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya.
At the flag rank level, he served as Chief Staff Officer (Training) at Southern Naval Command, Flag Officer Sea Training, Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet, Chief of Staff of the Western Naval Command, Controller of Personnel Services, Chief of Personnel at Naval Headquarters, and Vice Chief of the Naval Staff. He most recently served as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command.
He holds a BSc from Jawaharlal Nehru University, an MSc in Telecommunications from Cochin University of Science and Technology, an MA in Defence Studies from King’s College London, an MPhil in Strategic Studies from Mumbai University, and a PhD in International Studies from Mumbai University.
He has been awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, and Vishisht Seva Medal.
- Ashish Singh is an award-winning senior journalist with over 18 years of experience in defence and strategic affairs.
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