Army Chiefs

General Bipin Chandra Joshi

alt

PVSM, AVSM, ADC
COAS, 30 June 1993 - 19 November 1994
Armoured Corps, 64 CAV and 2 Lancers

General Bipin Chandra Joshi assumed charge of the Indian Army, as the 17th Chief of Army Staff, on 30 June 1993. Commissioned in the Indian Army in December 1954, into the Armoured Corps, he has held important command and staff appointments which include staff officer with the UN Force in Gaza, Brigadier General Staff at a Corps Headquarters and as a Military Advisor in Australia from May 1973 to October 1976. He is credited with raising the Rashtriya Rifles in 1990 to fight an insurgency in Kashmir.

He commanded an Armoured Regiment in the Western Sector during the 1971 Indo-Pak War. He has also commanded an Independent Armoured Brigade and an Infantry Division. He commanded a Corps in the Eastern Sector and was also the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command. He has also held the appointment of Additional Director General of Perspective Planning (ADGPP) and Director General Military Operations (DGMO) at the Army HQ. He had three tenures as an Instructor in the Armoured Corps Centre & School and was also a Directing Staff in the College of Combat, Mhow.

General Joshi has been a recipient of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) for distinguished service of the most exceptional order. He passed away on 19 November 1994, at a military hospital in New Delhi at the age of 59 as a result of a heart attack. He had complained of chest pain after he played a round of golf that morning and died soon afterward in the hospital. He was due to retire in December 1995.

Home Personnel Army Chiefs General Bipin Chandra Joshi