Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command
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The Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command (CINCAN) is the head of the Andaman and Nicobar Command, the first and only Tri-service theater command of the Indian Armed Forces, based at Sri Vijaya Puram (formerly Port Blair) in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India.
The current CINCAN is Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar who took command on 1 October 2025 as the 19th CINCAN.
History
The Andaman and Nicobar Islands became a Union territory of India in 1956. The first military unit on the islands was the naval base INS Jarawa, which was commissioned in 1964. The base was commanded by a Resident Naval Officer (RNO). After establishing subsequent garrisons in the islands, the post was upgraded to Naval Officer-in-Charge Andaman & Nicobar (NOIC A&N). The naval establishments were under the command of the Eastern Naval Command during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. In October 1976, the operational control of all forces in the islands was given, and the post was upgraded to Commodore, Andaman & Nicobar (COMAN). Shortly afterwards, all establishments came under the newly created Fortress Andaman & Nicobar to signify jointness. The appointment was redesignated to Fortress Commander, Andaman and Nicobar Islands (FORTAN). In 1978, INS Kardip was commissioned as a Forward operating base.
In March 1981, FORTAN was upgraded to a Two star appointment tenanted by a Rear Admiral. In 1987, the post was further upgraded to a three star appointment. In 1998, a 'Far East Naval Command' (FENC) was proposed, to be commanded by a Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Far East Naval Command.
With the operationalisation of the A & N Command as a unified theatre command in October 2001, Vice Admiral Arun Prakash, AVSM, VrC, VSM, ADC took over as the First Commander-in-Chief of the unified command.
Organisation
The CINCAN is a Three-star rank officer from the three Services in rotation. The CINCAN reports directly to the Chief of Defence Staff (India) (CDS) in New Delhi. He is assisted by the Chief of Staff of the command, a two-star officer and the commanders of each component (sea, land, air) - one-star officers.
List of Commanders
The following is a list of Commanders-in-Chief of the A&N command.
| No | Name | Branch | Appointment Date | Left office | References |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vice Admiral Arun Prakash AVSM VrC VSM | Indian Navy | 8 October 2001 | 30 December 2002 | |
| 2 | Vice Admiral O. P. Bansal AVSM | 15 January 2003 | 30 September 2003 | ||
| 3 | Lieutenant General Bhupender Singh Thakur AVSM | Indian Army | 1 October 2003 | 13 January 2005 | |
| 4 | Lieutenant General Aditya Singh AVSM & bar | 14 January 2005 | 27 February 2006 | ||
| 5 | Vice Admiral Arun Kumar Singh PVSM AVSM NM | Indian Navy | 28 February 2006 | 25 October 2006 | |
| 6 | Air Marshal Packiam Paul Rajkumar AVSM | Indian Air Force | 2 December 2006 | 31 December 2007 | |
| 7 | Air Marshal Sadasivan Radhakrishnan AVSM | 1 January 2008 | 30 September 2008 | ||
| 8 | Vice Admiral Vijay Shankar AVSM | Indian Navy | 30 September 2008 | 30 September 2009 | |
| 9 | Vice Admiral Devendra Kumar Joshi AVSM YSM NM VSM | 30 September 2009 | 28 December 2010 | ||
| 10 | Lieutenant General N C Marwah AVSM | Indian Army | 1 January 2011 | 31 October 2012 | |
| 11 | Air Marshal Pramon Kumar Roy AVSM VM VSM | Indian Air Force | 2 November 2012 | 30 June 2014 | |
| 12 | Vice Admiral Pradeep Kumar Chatterjee AVSM NM | Indian Navy | 1 July 2014 | 28 February 2016 | |
| 13 | Vice Admiral Bimal Verma AVSM | 29 February 2016 | 1 December 2019 | ||
| 14 | Lieutenant General Podali Shankar Rajeshwar PVSM AVSM VSM | Indian Army | 1 December 2019 | 31 May 2020 | |
| 15 | Lieutenant General Manoj Pande AVSM VSM | 1 June 2020 | 31 May 2021 | ||
| 16 | Lieutenant General Ajai Singh PVSM AVSM | 1 June 2021 | 30 April 2023 | ||
| 17 | Air Marshal Saju Balakrishnan AVSM VM | Indian Air Force | 1 May 2023 | 31 May 2025 | |
| 18 | Lieutenant General Dinesh Singh Rana PVSM AVSM YSM SM | Indian Army | 1 June 2025 | 30 September 2025 | |
| 19 | Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar PVSM AVSM NM | Indian Navy | 1 October 2025 | Incumbent |
| Branch | Count |
|---|---|
| Number of CINCAN by branches of service | |
| Indian Army | 7 |
| Indian Navy | 8 |
| Indian Air Force | 4 |
See also
- Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee
- Chief of Integrated Defence Staff
- Andaman and Nicobar Command
Bibliography
- Singh, Anup (2018), Blue Waters Ahoy!, The Indian Navy 2001-2010, HarperCollins Publishers India, ISBN 978-93-5302-552-6
- Mukherjee, Anit; Mohan, C. Raja (2015), India's Naval Strategy and Asian Security, Routledge, ISBN 978-1-317-36133-6