General V.K. Singh

Born on May 10, 1951, in Bapora village of Bhiwani district, Haryana, General Vijay Kumar Singh (PVSM, AVSM, YSM) is a distinguished four-star general, commando, and statesman who served as the 24th Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army from March 2010 to May 2012. Hailing from a renowned Rajput military lineage in Bhiwani—a district celebrated as a traditional nursery of soldiers and officers—Singh joined the National Defence Academy and was commissioned into the 2nd Battalion of the Rajput Regiment in June 1970. He saw active combat during the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and went on to become one of the most highly trained special operations officers in the military. General Singh graduated with top honors from the US Army Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia, where he completed the elite US Army Ranger course, later earning an induction into the US Army War College Hall of Fame. Over forty-two years of service, he commanded the Victor Force in Jammu & Kashmir, the Ambala-based 2 Strike Corps, and the Eastern Command. As Army Chief, he initiated sweeping operational modernizations, fostered greater combat readiness along mountainous frontiers, and advocated for military integrity and institutional transparency. Following his military retirement in 2012, General Singh transitioned into national governance, joining public life and being elected to the Lok Sabha for two consecutive terms from Ghaziabad. Appointed Union Minister of State for External Affairs, Overseas Indian Affairs, Road Transport and Highways, and Civil Aviation, he earned worldwide acclaim in 2015 for personally on-ground executing 'Operation Raahat' in war-torn Yemen, orchestrating the perilous evacuation of over 5,600 stranded civilians, including foreign nationals from 41 countries, from Sana'a and Aden under heavy bombardment. General V.K. Singh remains an epitome of soldierly courage, frontline leadership, and public service rooted in the martial soil of Bhiwani.

Honors & Career Highlights