Lt Gen. Rajesh Pushkar AVSM, VSM assumed command as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command on 1 July 2026. He succeeds Lt Gen. Sandeep Jain AVSM, SM who has taken over as the vice chief of the army staff.

An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Lt Gen. Pushkar was commissioned into 74 Armoured Regiment in December 1988. The General Officer has had an illustrious and distinguished military career spanning over four decades. During his service, he has held a wide range of command, staff and instructional appointments across diverse geographical and operational environments. Lt Gen. Pushkar provided decisive leadership and strategic foresight as GOC 2 Corps during Operation Sindoor.

He has commanded an armoured regiment in an operational area, a strategic independent armoured brigade, an infantry division and a premier Strike Corps in the Western Sector. His important staff appointments include tenures as colonel military secretary in a Strike Corps, colonel general staff of an Armoured Division in the Western Sector, brigadier quartermaster general of a Strike Corps, brigadier general staff of an operational command, additional director general, Armoured Corps and director general Territorial Army. He has also been an instructor at the National Defence Academy.

The GOC-in-C has had two international exposures as part of the Indian Military Training Team to Bhutan and as defence and military attache, embassy of India, Moscow, with accreditation to Armenia and Belarus. He is a graduate of the National Defence Academy and a post graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, College of Defence Management and National Defence College. He has also done Masters in Defence and Strategic Studies, Masters in Management Studies and Master of Philosophy in Defence and International Relations.