The XXXIII Corps, or the Trishakti Corps, is a corps of the Indian Army. It draws some of its heritage from the British Indian XXXIII Corps, which was formed in 1942 but disbanded in 1945. It was re-raised in 1960 at Shillong.

The corps is headquartered in Sukna in Siliguri, North Bengal and is commanded by a Three Star officer of the rank of Lieutenant General titled General Officer Commanding (GOC). His chief of staff is a Two Star officer of the rank of Major General. The total troop strength of the XXXIII corps is estimated to be between 45,000 and 60,000 soldiers.

History The XXXIII Corps Operating Signal Regiment was a part of XIV Army during World War II. The regiment moved to its present location along with the Corps HQ in 1962. It participated in the Indo-China war of 1962 and captured some Chinese communication equipment. This equipment is kept in the Corps of Signals Museum at Jabalpur to enable future generations of soldiers to know about the bravery and dedication shown by their predecessors.

Re-Raising The corps was re-raised by Lieutenant General Umrao Singh on 1 November 1960, to reduce IV Corps' area of responsibility. The Corps is headquartered in Sukna in North Bengal, near the city of Siliguri. Its area of responsibility includes North Bengal, Sikkim, and if needed, Bhutan. It comprises three mountain divisions, 17th (Gangtok), 20th (Binnaguri), and 27th (Kalimpong).Kenneth Conboy, Elite Forces of India and Pakistan, Osprey

The coat of arms consists of a white horizontal band between two red bands (the standard formation sign background for corps in the Indian Army) with a black trident and a black spear with black wings in the foreground. The Corps HQ has an Indian Air Force air control unit attached to it, 3 TAC, commanded by a Group Captain. The corps also has an organic Army Aviation Helicopter Squadron based at Sevoke flying the HAL Chetak. It is commanded by a Colonel. The Indian Air Force bases at Bagdogra (Siliguri) and Hashimara are the air units co-tasked to the XXXIII Corps Area of Responsibility.

ORBAT It currently consists of:

17th Mountain Division (Blackcat Division) headquartered at Gangtok. It was raised in 1959 and converted to a mountain division in 1963. It is assigned to the Sikkim sector.Conboy et al, p.8 20th Mountain Division (Kirpan Division) headquartered at Binnaguri. It was raised in 1963 and assigned to the Sikkim sector. Composed of the 66th, 165th, and 202nd Mountain Brigades in 1971. 27th Mountain Division (Striking Lion Division) headquartered at Kalimpong. It was converted to a mountain division in 1963. Division Artillery Brigade MR-SAM (Abhra) Regiment (raised in February 2023)

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 The corps handled the sensitive Indo-Tibetan border and was responsible for the defence of the McMahon Line. The corps under Lieutenant General Mohan L. Thapan controlled the 6th and 20th Mountain Divisions and the 71st Mountain Brigade. While fighting the war in the south, however, the corps also had to look north and retained command of the 17th and 27th Mountain Divisions on the Tibetan frontier. Furthermore, Thapan could not commit the 6th Mountain Division without permission from New Delhi, as it was to be held ready to move to the Bhutanese border in case China intervened in the war.

As elsewhere along the border, Indian forces in support of the Mukti Bahini made significant inroads into East Pakistan before 3 December. Most notable was Brigadier Pran Nath Kathpalia's 71st Mountain Brigade, which had pushed to the outskirts of Thakurgaon by the eve of war. Efforts to capture the heavily fortified border village of Hilli, however, failed repeatedly in a struggle that raged off and on from 24 November to 11 December. Resolutely defended by Pakistani 4 Frontier Force, Hilli blocked the proposed advance of the 20th Division across the narrow "waist" of this sector.

After heavy losses in front of Hilli, the 20th Division solved this problem by swinging around to the north and unleashing the 340th Brigade under Brigadier Joginder Singh Bakshi. Bakshi moved swiftly to control the main north-south road, unhinging the defence of Hilli, splitting the Pakistani 16th Division, and opening the way to Bogra, which town he effectively controlled by war's end. The Pakistani division, despite continued resistance by isolated units, had ceased to exist as a coherent combat formation. Indicative of the chaotic situation, General Shah and the commander of the 205th Brigade, Brigadier Tajammul Hussain Malik, were almost captured when Indian forces ambushed their convoy on 7 December. On the other hand, a last-minute Indian move north by the 66th and 202nd Brigades to capture Rangpur proved unsuccessful.

In secondary actions, the 9th Mountain Brigade secured most of the area north of the Tista River and an ad hoc command of Indian BSF and Mukti Bahini under Brigadier Prem Singh pushed out of Malda to capture Nawabganj in the extreme southeastern corner of the sector. Despite Bakshi's performance and the generally successful advance of 71st Brigade, much of XXXIII Corps' offensive power was allowed to lie idle far too long and Pakistani troops still held the major towns of the sector (Rangpur, Saidpur, Dinajpur, Nator, Rajshahi) when the cease-fire was announced. Likewise, the cease-fire intervened before the Indians could implement a hastily conceived plan to transfer the 340th Brigade, a tank squadron, and an artillery battery across the Jamuna via the Phulchari ferry to take part in the advance on Dacca. Except for this squadron, all the armour was preparing to transfer to the west by the end of the war.

General Officers Commanding

RankName Appointment DateLeft officeUnit of CommissionReferencesLieutenant GeneralUmrao Singh1 November 196028 October 1962Rajputana RiflesHarbaksh Singh29 October 196229 October 1964Sikh RegimentGopal Gurunath Bewoor30 October 196426 April 196710th Baluch RegimentJagjit Singh Aurora27 April 1967March 1969Punjab RegimentMohan L Thapan1969May 1972Jat RegimentH C RaiJune 1972July 1974Rajputana RiflesWAG Pinto1976197813th Frontier Force RiflesKrishnaswamy SundarjiFebruary 1979January 1980Mahar RegimentKrishnaswami BalaramJanuary 198026 December 1981Corps of SignalsS S Brar27 December 198111 December 1983Armoured CorpsJ K Puri12 December 1983Regiment of ArtilleryM R SharmaDogra RegimentArun Kumar GautamaJuly 1993April 199416th Light CavalryA B MasihKumaon RegimentH R S Mann4 October 199919 November 2000Brigade of the GuardsAshok Chaki20 November 200019 August 20024th Gorkha RiflesAvtar Singh20 August 200220 February 2004Jat RegimentDeepak Kapoor21 February 200414 April 2005Regiment of ArtilleryThomas Mathew15 April 200525 August 2006Rajput Regiment CKS Sabu26 August 200625 September 2007Regiment of ArtilleryDeepak Raj26 September 200731 August 2008Mechanised Infantry RegimentPrashant Kumar Rath1 September 200825 November 2009Regiment of ArtilleryD S Sidhu26 November 20092 November 201017th Horse (Poona Horse)Vinod Bhatia3 November 201024 November 2011Parachute RegimentKotheneth Surendranath25 November 201131 January 201371 Armoured RegimentKamal Jit Singh1 February 201311 May 201463rd CavalryG S Chandel12 May 201425 July 2015Bihar RegimentSurinder Singh26 July 201526 August 2016Brigade of the GuardsSanjay Kumar Jha27 August 201627 August 2017The Sikh RegimentPradeep M Bali 28 August 201729 August 2018Punjab RegimentChandi Prasad Mohanty30 August 2018 13 September 2019Rajput RegimentNav Kumar Khanduri13 September 201913 September 2020Corps of Army Air DefenceAjai Kumar Singh14 September 202021 October 202111th Gorkha RiflesTarun Kumar Aich22 October 202131 October 2022Madras RegimentVPS Kaushik1 November 20229 June 2024 Kumaon RegimentZubin A. Minwalla10 June 202430 September 20259th Gorkha RiflesMan Raj Singh Mann1 October 2025Incumbent 1 Gorkha Rifles

References

Sources Jane's World Armies, Issue 19, 2006 Globalsecurity.org