South Western Command (India)

South Western Command
Insignia of the South Western Command
Active	15 April 2005 - Present
Country	India
Branch	Indian Army
Type	Command
Garrison/HQ	Jaipur, Rajasthan
Nickname	Sapta Shakti Command
Mottos	Sarvada Vijayee Bhava transl. 'Forever Victorious'
Commanders
GOC-in-C	Lt Gen Manjinder Singh, PVSM AVSM YSM VSM
Insignia
Flag

The South Western Command of the Indian Army was established on 15 April 2005 and became fully operational on 15 August 2005. It was established in response to the emerging threats and opportunities on the Western Indo-Pak border and is headquartered at Jaipur, Rajasthan. ^[1]

Lieutenant General Manjinder Singh is the current GOCinC, SWC who took over on 1 July 2024. ^[2]

History and Role

The South Western Command of the Indian Army was formally raised on 15 April 2005 as the seventh operational command, with its headquarters established at Jaipur Military Station in Rajasthan with Lieutenant General Krishnamurthy Nagaraj taking over as the first General Officer Commanding-in-Chief. This creation involved carving out sectors from the existing Western Command to enhance dedicated oversight of the arid western frontier, responding to evolving security dynamics along the Indo-Pak border. ^[3] The South Western Command is operationally responsible for the defence of Southern Punjab and Northern Rajasthan. ^[4]

Structure

Currently, the South Western Command has been assigned operational units under:- X Corps and 42nd Artillery Division. The command in total has following units under its belt:- 3 infantry divisions (1 for Mountain warfare), 1 armoured division, 1 artillery division, 2 Reorganised Army Plains Infantry Division (RAPID), 1 armoured brigade, 1 Air-defence brigade, and 1 engineering brigade.

In 2021, except the 33 Armoured Division all the units of I Corps was transferred to Northern Command to focus on the Sino-Indian border at Ladakh.

Structure of South-Western Command
Corp	Corp HQ	GOC of Corps (Corps Commander)	Assigned Units	Unit HQ
X Corps (Chetak Corps)	Bathinda, Punjab	Lt Gen Shamsher Singh Virk	16 Infantry Division	Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan
			18 RAPID Division	Kota, Rajasthan
			24 RAPID Division	Bikaner, Rajasthan
			6 (Independent) Armoured Brigade	Bhatinda, Punjab
			615 Air-defence Brigade	Agra, Uttar Pradesh
			471 Engineering Brigade	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A	42 Artillery Division	Jaipur, Rajasthan
N/A	N/A	N/A	33 Armoured Division	Hisar, Haryana

List of Commanders

General Officer Commanding-in-Chief South Western Command
S.No	Name	Assumed office	Left office	Unit of Commission	References
1	Lieutenant General Krishnamurthy Nagaraj PVSM , UYSM , ADC ,	15 April 2005	31 July 2006	Maratha Light Infantry	[5]
2	Lieutenant General Parmendra Kumar Singh PVSM , AVSM	1 August 2006	31 July 2008	Regiment of Artillery	[6] [7]
3	Lieutenant General Chanroth Kunnumal Suchindra Sabu PVSM , AVSM , VSM	1 September 2008	30 November 2010	Regiment of Artillery	[8] [6]
4	Lieutenant General Shri Krishna Singh PVSM , UYSM , AVSM	1 December 2010	31 October 2011	8th Gorkha Rifles	[9]
5	Lieutenant General Gyan Bhushan PVSM , UYSM , AVSM , VSM	1 November 2011	31 December 2013	Mahar Regiment	[10]
6	Lieutenant General Arun K Sahni PVSM , SM , VSM	1 January 2014	31 January 2016	Regiment of Artillery	[11]
7	Lieutenant General Sarath Chand PVSM , UYSM , AVSM , VSM	1 February 2016	12 January 2017	Garhwal Rifles	[12]
8	Lieutenant General Abhay Krishna PVSM , UYSM , AVSM , SM , VSM	25 January 2017	31 July 2017	Rajputana Rifles	[13]
9	Lieutenant General Cherish Mathson PVSM , SM , VSM	1 August 2017	31 August 2019	Garhwal Rifles	[14]
10	Lieutenant General Alok Singh Kler PVSM , VSM	1 September 2019	31 March 2021	68 Armoured Regiment	[15]
11	Lieutenant General Amardeep Singh Bhinder PVSM , AVSM , VSM	1 April 2021	28 February 2023	The Deccan Horse	[16]
12	Lieutenant General B. S. Raju PVSM , UYSM , AVSM , YSM	1 March 2023	31 October 2023	Jat Regiment	[17]
13	Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth PVSM , UYSM , AVSM	1 November 2023	30 June 2024	2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse)	[18]
14	Lieutenant General Manjinder Singh PVSM , AVSM , YSM , VSM	1 July 2024	Incumbent	Madras Regiment	[19]

Notes

1. "South Western Command". indianarmy.nic.in.
2. "Lt Gen Singh takes over reins of South Western Command". The Times of India. 2 July 2024. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 16 January 2026.
3. "India - Army South Western Command". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
4. "All About South Western (Sapta Shakti) Command: Forever Victorious". 24 September 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2026.
5. "The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Punjab". tribuneindia.com. Archived from the original on 7 September 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
6. "PressReader - the Times of India (New Delhi edition): 2008-09-01 - New GOC-in-chief of South Western Command". Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2017– via PressReader.
7. "Sainik Samachar". Archived from the original on 24 October 2017.
8. "The Telegraph - Calcutta (Kolkata) | Jharkhand | School gets new campus". telegraphindia.com. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
9. "Lt Gen S K Singh takes over as Army SW Command chief". Deccan Herald. 3 December 2010. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
10. "Lt Gen Gyan Bhushan takes over as SW command's new GOC-in-C". Moneycontrol. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
11. "Lt Gen Arun Kumar Sahni designated as GOC-in-C, South Western Command | NetIndian". netindian.in. 13 December 2013. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
12. "Lt Gen Sarath Chand new GOC-in C of South Western Command". Archived from the original on 2 February 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
13. "Lt Gen Abhay Krishna takes over Army's South Western Command". The Economic Times. 2017. Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
14. "Lt Gen Cherish Mathson takes over Army's South Western Command". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 7 October 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
15. "Kler is new chief of Sapta Shakti Command". The Times of India . 1 September 2019.
16. "Lt Gen Yogendra Dimri appointed as next Commander-in-chief of Lucknow-based Central Army Command". ANI News. 27 February 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2021.
17. "Lt. Gen. Raju shifted, new Vice-Chief named". The Hindu. 16 February 2023. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
18. "Lt General Dhiraj Seth takes over as South Western Army chief". Hindustan Times. 1 November 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2024.
19. Service, Statesman News (1 July 2024). "Lt Gen Manjinder Singh assumes charge of South-Western Command". The Statesman. Retrieved 1 July 2024.

References

• Richard A. Renaldi and Ravi Rikhe, 'Indian Army Order of Battle,' Orbat.com for Tiger Lily Books: A division of General Data LLC, ISBN   978-0-9820541-7-8, 2011.