# Dhiraj Seth

Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth, PVSM, AVSM is a serving general officer of the Indian Army. He currently serves as General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command. He was previously tenanting the appointment of General Officer Commanding-in-Chief South Western Command. He earlier held the appointment of General Officer commanding Delhi Area, prior to that he was General Officer Commanding XXI Corps.

## Early life and education

General Seth is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, and of the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun. He is also an alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College, where he was recognised as the best all-round student in his course; in 2006, he attended the prestigious Defence Services Command and General Staff Course at the French Collège interarmées de Défense.
The general is also a graduate of the Higher Command Course at the Army War College, Mhow, and of the National Defence College at New Delhi. Additionally, he qualified in the International Defense Acquisition Management Course of the Naval Postgraduate School in the United States.

## Military career

The general officer was commissioned into the 2nd Lancers (Gardner's Horse) on 20 December 1986 from the Indian Military Academy. He was awarded the ‘Silver Centurion’ in the Young Officers Course, he stood first in the order of merit in several courses he attended, including the Junior Command Course. He has commanded the Skinner's Horse, 98 Armoured Brigade and was General Officer Commanding (GOC) of a Rashtriya Rifles force in Jammu & Kashmir. He has served as brigade major of an independent armoured brigade, as Assistant Military Secretary in the Military Secretary Branch and as Brigadier General Staff (Operations) of the South Western Command. Gen Seth also served as an instructor and assistant adjutant at the National Defence Academy (NDA), and as an instructor at the School of Armoured Warfare, Ahmednagar. In 1995–1996, he served with the United Nations Angola Verification Mission III as operations officer.
He served as Director General (Discipline, Ceremonial and Welfare) at Integrated Headquarters of Ministry of Defence (Army) in New Delhi before assuming the appointement of General Officer Commanding of XXI Corps on 31 July 2021. He was subsequently appointed General Officer Commanding Delhi Area in August 2022.
On 1 November 2023, Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth took over as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief South Western Command succeeding Lieutenant General B. S. Raju who superannuated on 31 October 2023. On 1 July 2024, Lieutenant General Dhiraj Seth took over as the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command succeeding Lieutenant General Ajai Kumar Singh who superannuated on 30 June 2024 after four decades of service to the nation.

## Personal life

Gen Seth is a son of Lieutenant General Krishna Mohan Seth (Retd.), who retired as the Adjutant-General of the Indian Army in 1997, and who also commanded XXI Strike Corps from October 1992 to October 1994 and III Corps from October 1994 to October 1995. Following his retirement from the Army, he successively served as Governor of Tripura from 2000 to 2003, and as Governor of Chhattisgarh from 2003 to 2007.

## Awards and decorations

The General was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 2025 and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2022.
| Param Vishisht Seva Medal | Param Vishisht Seva Medal | Ati Vishisht Seva Medal | Ati Vishisht Seva Medal |
| Samanya Seva Medal | Special Service Medal | Special Service Medal | Sainya Seva Medal |
| High Altitude Medal | Videsh Seva Medal | 75th Independence Anniversary Medal | 50th Independence Anniversary Medal |
| 30 Years Long Service Medal | 20 Years Long Service Medal | 9 Years Long Service Medal | UNAVEM III |

## Dates of rank

| Rank | Component | Date of rank |
| Second Lieutenant | Indian Army | 20 December 1986 |
| Lieutenant | Indian Army | 20 December 1988 |
| Captain | Indian Army | 20 December 1991 |
| Major | Indian Army | 20 December 1997 |
| Lieutenant-Colonel | Indian Army | 16 December 2004 |
| Colonel | Indian Army | 1 May 2007 |
| Brigadier | Indian Army | 24 May 2013 (acting) 9 September 2013 (substantive, with seniority from 24 June 2011) |
| Major General | Indian Army | 1 December 2018 (seniority from 1 February 2017) |
| Lieutenant-General | Indian Army | 2021 |