Admiral RK Dhowan named Navy Chief superseding Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha

New Delhi: New Delhi: Admiral Robin Dhowan was on Thursday appointed as the new Navy chief of India. In a press release issued by the government of India, the Defence Ministry said that Dhowan was a Navigation and Direction specialist who has "served with distinction in an array of Command, Staff and Instructional appointments through his exemplary career spanning 40 years".

Admiral Dhowan superseded his senior Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha to the post. Vice Admiral Sinha was the head of the western command of the Navy and the seniormost in the force after Admiral DK Joshi resigned as Navy Chief in the aftermath of the INS Sindhuratna fire.

Sources say that Sinha was not considered for the top post as most of the Naval accidents in the past few months happened under his command.

The press release on Admiral Dhowan's appointment:

PRESS INFORMATION BUREAU (DEFENCE WING)

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

Admiral RK Dhowan Appointed the New CNS

New Delhi: 27 Vaisakha 1936

Thursday, 17 April 2014

The Government has appointed Admiral RK Dhowan PVSM AVSM YSM ADC as the Chief of the Naval Staff.

Admiral RK Dhowan was commissioned in the Navy on 01 Jan 1975. He is a Navigation and Direction specialist who has served with distinction in an array of Command, Staff and Instructional appointments through his exemplary career spanning 40 years. He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Defence Services Staff College and Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, USA.

He has commanded frontline warships INS Khukri, INS Ranjit, INS Delhi and served as Chief Staff Officer (Operations) Headquarters Western Naval Command. He has also served as Indian Naval Adviser at the High Commission of India, London. He has commanded the Eastern Fleet as Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet and served as Chief of Staff at Headquarters Eastern Naval Command, Visakhapatnam. He also has the distinction of commanding the prestigious 'National Defence Academy', his alma mater as the Commandant.

The important staff appointments held by the Admiral at Naval Headquarters are Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Policy and plans), Deputy Chief of Naval Staff and Vice Chief of Naval Staff.

Sitanshu Kar