New Delhi: Air Marshal Inderpal Singh Walia has been appointed vice-chief of the Indian Air Force and will assume office on November 1. Currently heading the Eastern Air Command, he will succeed Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit in a change at the service’s senior leadership level.
AM Dixit is scheduled to be promoted to air chief marshal and take over as the chief of the air staff on the afternoon of October 31, following the retirement of Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh, as RNA Media had reported. His appointment as the service’s 29th chief was announced by the government on October 6.
AM Walia became the air officer commanding in chief of the Eastern Air Command on February 1, succeeding Air Marshal Surat Singh. Before taking command, he served as its senior air staff officer, bringing continuity between the headquarters’ operational planning and command functions.
His move follows a tenure in a region where difficult terrain and variable weather place particular demands on military aviation. Besides maintaining operational readiness, the command supports disaster relief and medical evacuations, including access to remote parts of Arunachal Pradesh.
Air Marshal Inderpal Singh Walia – a brief profile
An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, AM Walia was commissioned into the IAF’s fighter stream on June 11, 1988. His flying experience covers variants of the MiG-21, MiG-23 and MiG-27, alongside the Jaguar and Su-30MKI, with more than 3,200 hours of accident- and incident-free flying recorded in his official biography.
His command assignments have included a MiG-27 squadron, the Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE), and a frontline airbase. A qualified fighter strike leader and instrument rating instructor and examiner, he has also held appointments in air staff inspection, training and air defence.
AM Walia attended the Advanced Command and Staff Course in the United Kingdom and the National Defence College in Bangladesh, and served as a defence attaché covering Japan and South Korea. He received the Vayu Sena Medal in 2008 and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2018.