Air Marshal Inderpal Singh Walia Named Vice Chief of Air Staff

Air Marshal Inderpal Singh Walia, AVSM VM, has been appointed Vice Chief of the Air Staff with effect from 1 November 2026. He is at present the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Air Command.

A fighter pilot's career

The officer passed out of the National Defence Academy and was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force on 11 June 1988. He is qualified to fly every variant of the MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-27, Jaguar and Su-30 MKI, a spread that covers nearly the whole of the force's combat fleet over four decades.

Across that career he has held command as well as staff appointments. He led a frontline fighter squadron and later the Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment, the unit that writes the air force's combat doctrine, and served as Air Officer Commanding of Air Force Station Bareilly.

Training and staff postings

Air Marshal Walia completed the Advanced Command and Staff Course in the United Kingdom and attended the National Defence College in Bangladesh. He has headed the Directorate of Air Staff Inspection of the Indian Air Force and served abroad as Defence Attache at the Indian missions in Japan and South Korea. Before taking charge of Eastern Air Command he was its Senior Air Staff Officer.

A keen reader, he holds three post-graduate degrees in defence and strategic studies. He was awarded the Vayu Sena Medal in 2008 and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2018 for distinguished service.

The handover

He succeeds Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit in the appointment. Air Marshal Dixit moves up to become the 29th Chief of the Air Staff on 31 October 2026, which is why the post of Vice Chief falls vacant. The Vice Chief of the Air Staff is the second-ranking officer in the Indian Air Force and assists the Chief in running the service, making the appointment one of the senior-most changes in the air force this year.