New Delhi: In a rare move, the government has extended the tenure of Army Chief General Manoj Pande, giving him another month in office and effectively postponing the appointment of his successor who was scheduled to take over at the end of May.

Gen Pande was to retire on May 31 after completing his tenure at the age of 62. However, the government had not yet named his successor, though the choice was largely believed to be between the two senior most Army commanders – Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi and Lt Gen AK Singh.

Dwivedi is the current Vice Chief of Army Staff and has previously served as the Northern Army Commander. Singh, who was commissioned into the Gorkha Rifles, is currently the Southern Army Commander and is junior to Lt Gen Dwivedi. The last time the tenure of a service chief was extended was in 1973, when Gen GG Bewoor was given a nine month extension by the then government led by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.