XI Corps (India)

The XI Corps of the Indian Army is based in Jalandhar and is a part of Western Command. XI Corps is also known as Vajra Corps.

XI Corps
Vajra Corps formation sign
Active	1950 - present
Country	India
Branch	Indian Army
Role	Holding Corps
Size	Corps
Part of	Western Command
Garrison/HQ	Jalandhar
Nickname(s)	Vajra Corps Defenders of Punjab[1]
Engagements	2025 India–Pakistan border skirmishes
Battle honours	Theatre Honour: Punjab Battle Honours: Dograi Barki Asal Uttar Sehjra Dera Baba Nanak[2]
Commanders
Current commander	Lt Gen Ajay Chandpuria AVSM, VSM[3]
Notable commanders	General Ved Prakash Malik General Om Prakash Malhotra Lt Gen Naveen Chand Rawlley Lt Gen J S Dhillon Lt Gen T B Henderson Brooks

History

XI Corps was raised to take command of the formations in the Punjab in 1950^[4] as India reorganised its post-1947 army to meet the new threat of Pakistan.^[5] It was raised on March 1, 1950 at Ambala under the command of Lieutenant General Kalwant Singh.^[6] The corps headquarters was relocated to Jalandhar in July 1951.^[2]

To reduce the load of XI Corps, X Corps was formed at Bathinda on 1 July 1979, taking over south Punjab and north Rajasthan.^[7]

Formation sign

The Corps formation sign consists of the 'red-white-red background' depicting a corps of the Indian Army overlaid by a Vajra, the powerful thunderbolt weapon of Lord Indra, the symbol of sacrifice of the great sage Dadhichi, who voluntarily sacrificed his body to make the fiercest weapon from his thighbone.^[6]

Vajra Corps Platinum Jubilee, 1 March 2020

Organisation

The corps consists of:^[8]

• 7 Infantry Division (Golden Arrow Division) headquartered at Firozpur, raised in 1964.^[9]
• 9 Infantry Division (Pine Division) headquartered at Meerut.^[10] It has one brigade each at Meerut, Delhi and Jalandhar.
• 15 Infantry Division (Panther Division) headquartered at Amritsar.^[11] Appears to include 350 Infantry Brigade.^[12]
• 23 (Independent) Armoured Brigade (Flaming Arrow Brigade) at Khasa, Amritsar.^[13]
• 55 (Independent) Mechanised Brigade (Double Victory Brigade) at Beas^[14][15]
• Corps Artillery Brigade headquartered at Jalandhar^[16]
• Corps Air Defence Brigade headquartered at Ludhiana.^[17][18]
• 333 Missile Group equipped with Prithvi-I missile at Secunderabad^[19]

Vajra Shaurya Sthal, Jalandhar Cantonment - the Corps war memorial

Operations

• Indo-Pakistani War of 1965^[20]
• Indo-Pakistani War of 1971^[20]

List of Commanders

Vajra Museum, Jalandhar^[21]

Rank	Name	Appointment Date	Left Office	Unit of Commission	References
Lieutenant General	Kalwant Singh	1 March 1950		1st Punjab Regiment	[6]
	S P P Thorat	1955	May 1957	1/14 Punjab Regiment	[22][6]
	T B Henderson Brooks	1962	1963	5th Maratha Light Infantry	[23]
	Joginder Singh Dhillon	November 1963	August 1966	Bengal Sappers	[24]
	Premindra Singh Bhagat	August 1966	August 1970	Bombay Sappers
	Naveen Chand Rawlley	1970	1972	12th Frontier Force Regiment	[25]
	Om Prakash Malhotra	May 1972	July 1974	Regiment of Artillery	[26]
	Krishnaswamy Gowri Shankar	1984	1985	Corps of Signals	[27]
	V K Nayar	1985	31 October 1987	Parachute Regiment[nb 1]	[29]
	Bakshi Krishan Nath Chhibber	July 1990	September 1992	9th Gorkha Rifles	[30]
	Ved Prakash Malik	August 1992	March 1994	Sikh Light Infantry	[31][6]
	H B Kala	April 1994		Jat Regiment	[32]
	Virendra Kumar Sewal			Armoured Corps
	Kamal Davar	March 2000	April 2001	7th Light Cavalry	[33]
	Shantonu Choudhry	April 2001	April 2002	Regiment of Artillery	[34]
	Krishnamurthy Nagaraj	Apr 2002	May 2003	Maratha Light Infantry	[35]
	S Pattabhiraman	May 2003	May 2004	Bombay Sappers	[36][6]
	Parmendra Kumar Singh	May 2004	May 2005	Regiment of Artillery	[37]
	Mandhata Singh	May 2005	April 2006	9th Gorkha Rifles	[37]
	Noble Thamburaj	May 2006	September 2007	Bombay Sappers	[38]
	S S Kumar	October 2007	August 2008	Brigade of the Guards	[39]
	Virender Singh Tonk	August 2008	July 2009	Rajput Regiment	[40]
	Ramesh Halgali	24 July 2009	August 2010	Sikh Light Infantry	[41]
	Munish Sibal	August 2010	November 2011	Rajputana Rifles	[42][43]
	Sanjeev Madhok	November 2011	March 2013	Brigade of the Guards	[44]
	Ashwini Kumar Bakshi	March 2013	July 2014	Bihar Regiment	[45]
	N P S Hira	August 2014	31 July 2015	Sikh Light Infantry	[46]
	Jagbir Singh Cheema	21 August 2015	31 August 2016	Sikh Regiment	[47][48]
	B S Sahrawat	1 September 2016	2 November 2017	Kumaon Regiment	[49]
	Dushyant Singh	2 November 2017	4 November 2018	Maratha Light Infantry	[50]
	Arvind Dutta	5 November 2018	5 November 2019	Dogra Regiment	[51]
	Sanjeev Sharma	6 November 2019	2 December 2020	Rajputana Rifles	[52]
	C B Ponnappa	2 December 2020	10 February 2022	Mahar Regiment	[53]
	Devendra Sharma	11 February 2022	15 May 2023	14th Horse (Scinde Horse)	[54]
	Vijay B Nair	15 May 2023	30 June 2024	Punjab Regiment	[55]
	Ajay Chandpuria	1 July 2024	Incumbent	Dogra Regiment	[56]

Notes

1. Originally a Signals officer, General Nayar, after persistent pestering of his bosses, managed a transfer to his desired regiment — the Maratha Light Infantry (MLI), securing a billet with 2 Para (3rd battalion, MLI, converted to paratroop infantry).^[28]