Lt General Raja Subramani appointed new CDS, Vice Admiral Swaminathan as Navy Chief

The Government of India on Saturday announced two major top-level appointments in the armed forces, naming Lieutenant General N S Raja Subramani as the next Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan as the next Chief of the Naval Staff.

 

 

Lieutenant General N S Raja Subramani, PVSM, AVSM, SM, VSM (Retd.), has been appointed as the Chief of Defence Staff and will also serve as Secretary, Department of Military Affairs, from the date he assumes charge. He will succeed General Anil Chauhan, whose tenure as CDS ends on May 30, 2026.

 

 

Lt Gen Raja Subramani is currently serving as Military Adviser at the National Security Council Secretariat since September 2025. Earlier, he served as the Vice Chief of the Army Staff from July 2024 to July 2025 and also headed the Army’s Central Command between March 2023 and June 2024.

 

 

In another key appointment, the government named Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, as the next Chief of the Naval Staff. He is presently serving as Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command.

 

 

Vice Admiral Swaminathan has nearly four decades of service in the Indian Navy and has held several important operational and strategic appointments during his career. He will take over from Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, who is set to retire on May 31, 2026.