Senior naval officer Vice-Adm.
Senior naval officer Vice-Adm. Sunil Lanba, who is likely to take over as Chief of Naval Staff in four months, has now taken over as chief of the Mumbai-based Western Naval Command, considered the “premier operational command” of the Indian Navy. Current naval chief Adm. R.K. Dhowan is due to retire on May 31, and once that happens, Vice-Adm. Lanba will be the seniormost serving naval officer. In any case, the name of the chief-designate is usually announced by the government a few months in advance of the retirement of the incumbent chief, which means Vice-Adm. Lanba’s name could be announced as the next naval chief in about two months. He is likely to assume charge as Navy Chief on June 1 this year.
The Navy had seen much tumult two years ago when the then chief, Adm. D.K. Joshi, had resigned much ahead of the end of his tenure after a series of incidents on board naval warships and the destruction of INS Sindhurakshak submarine, that was gutted in 2013, as well as the accident on INS Sindhuratna submarine in February 2014. Adm. D.K. Joshi had quit on the day of the Sindhuratna accident. The government had superseded then western naval commander Vice-Adm. Shekhar Sinha and named Adm. Dhowan as naval chief within a few weeks of Adm. Joshi’s resignation.
But with things having returned somewhat to normal in the past two years, the path seems clear for Vice-Adm. Lanba to take over as Navy Chief. The Western Naval Command is considered the most crucial for operational preparedness and Vice-Adm. Lanba is expected to gain valuable experience by heading this command.
The Navy said in a statement on Sunday: “Vice-Adm. Sunil Lanba took over the reins of Western Naval Command (WNC) as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) on 31 January 2016 from Vice-Adm. S.P.S. Cheema at a ceremonial parade held at INS Shikra.”
It added: “Vice-Adm. Lanba, a specialist in navigation and direction and an alumnus of Defence Services Staff College, has very rich operational and staff experience over a career spanning more than three decades... He is also an alumnus of the College of Defence Management, Secunderabad, where he also served on the faculty. He has also held important staff assignments such as Fleet Operations Officer of Western Fleet and Chief of Staff, Southern and Eastern Naval Commands.”
Vice-Adm. Lanba, who was commander-in-chief of the Southern Naval Command at Kochi, is a recipient of the Param Vishist Seva Medal and Athi Vishist Seva Medal.
