Admiral R Hari Kumar took over as the 25th Chief of Indian Navy on Tuesday after replacing Admiral Karambir Singh. The 59-year-old officer was seen touching his mother's feet after the ceremony in a video that has now gone viral on social media.
Kumar was the head of Western Naval Command in Mumbai before being elevated as the Chief of the naval staff. He was commission into the executive branch of navy in January 1983. During his career as a navy officer, he has served as the chief of integrated defence staff to the chairman, chiefs of staff committee. He was involved with the theaterisation drive in the navy for the optimal use of the military's resources.
The Admiral had been a commander of several aircraft carriers such as INS Ranvir. INS Nishank and INS Viraat which is no longer in service. He went to the Naval War College in the US, the Riyal College of Defence Studies in the UK and the Army War College in Mhow, India. The decorated officer has been awarded with the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal ( AVSM), Vishist Seva Medal (VSM) and Vishist Seva Medal (PVSM) in the past.
Kumar has become the Chief of Indian Navy when the three defence services have put on a deadline by the department of military affairs (DMA) by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDC) to speed up their ongoing studies on the theaterisation drive to use the military resources in the best way possible for the future wars and operation. They have also been asked to submit a comprehensive report within six months. The deadline set for the military reform is April 2022. The time of submitting the report has been advanced from September to April 2022. The new models aims to create four different commands to combine the operations. That includes one air defence commands, two land-centric theatres and maritime theatre command. The creation of these can reportedly take up to two years.
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