On 8 December 1967, he relinquished command of the "Vikrant", handing over to Captain E. C. Kuruvila. Cursetji was promoted to the acting rank of rear admiral and took over as the Chief of Personnel (COP) at Naval Headquarters.Taking over from Rear Admiral K. R. Nair, he served as COP for little over two years. In early 1970, Cursetji was appointed the third Vice Chief of the Naval Staff. He was promoted to the acting rank of vice admiral and took over from his batchmate Vice Admiral Nilakanta Krishnan on 20 February 1970. On 26 January 1971, he was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal for distinguished service of the highest order. He served as the VCNS during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. In August 1972, he led a delegation to the Soviet Union to negotiate the acquisition of ship and aircraft. The Maritime reconnaissance aircraft Ilyushin Il-38 was acquired durin