II Corps is a corps of the Indian Army, based in Ambala and known as Kharga Corps.

The Corps was raised on October 6, 1971 by Lt Gen T N Raina at Krishna Nagar in West Bengal and saw action two months later in December. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, it captured the important towns of Khulna, Jessore, Jhenida, Magura and Faridpur and also the area between the rivers Ganges and Padma. Subsequently, the Corps was shifted to the Western Theatre where it was initially located at Chandimandir Cantonment till 1984, and then moved to Ambala in January 1985.

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 The II Corps consisted of 4th Mountain Division and 9th Infantry Division (the only infantry division in the east, it had more motor vehicles and heavier artillery than its mountain counterparts); the corps was later reinforced by 50 Parachute Brigade (minus one battalion). Under Lieutenant General Tapishwar Narain Raina ('Tappy'), the 20 infantry battalions of II Corps were to take Khulna, Jessore, Goalundo Ghat, Faridpur, and the Hardinge Bridge. Convinced that Khulna was one of the keys to East Pakistan, General Manekshaw placed especial stress on its capture. Dacca was not mentioned except in some contingency plans for crossing the Padma (Ganges) at Faridpur and Goalundo Ghat. Paying little attention to possible operations against the chief city of East Pakistan, therefore, Raina planned to advance on two axes with 4th Division in the north towards Jhenida and 9th Division aiming for Jessore on the southern approach.

Operations by Indian troops and Mukti Bahini during late November had secured a sizable enclave between Bayra and Jessore. An Indian success at Garibpur on 21/22 November was particularly significant, as it allowed the Indian 9th Division to gain considerable ground towards Jessore and resulted in the virtual destruction of the lone Pakistani armored squadron in the area. The action at Garibpur, however, also alerted the Pakistanis to the 9th Division’s proposed line of advance. As a result, the division quickly became embroiled in a tough and costly slogging match on 4 and 5 December once the full-scale conflict broke out. This fight took its toll on the Pakistanis too, however, and the exhausted 107 Brigade abandoned Jessore on the night of 6/7 December, withdrawing south to Khulna in considerable confusion.47

The Pakistani division headquarters and other remnants fled east toward the Madhumati River. A Pakistani officer recalled that “The front here had crumbled completely...Withdrawal quickly turned into a rout.” Riding into Jessore in the dawn hours of 7 December, he noted, “It looked like a ghost town, except for sleepy dogs and chickens, not a soul stirred. Doors were wide open; all kinds of personal belongings littered the roads. It looked like the end of East Pakistan.”48 The Indians occupied Jessore later that day, but Major General Dalbir Singh, the 9th Division commander, allowed himself to be distracted by Khulna and turned his entire division toward an objective that was supposed to be taken by a brigade. The town held out stoutly for the remainder of the war in the face of repeated attacks.

The 9 Division’s reserve force, 50 Para Brigade, engaged in a brief skirmish at Khajura north of Jessore on 8 December before being pulled out the next day for transfer to the western front. A planned two-company airborne attack by 8 Para near Jhenida was called off as unnecessary. The “Red Eagles,” Indian 4 Division, launched a well-conducted attack north and east from its positions around Jibannagar, skillfully bypassing or overwhelming resistance to enter Jhenida on 7 December. Like 9 Division, however, the leadership of the 4th was distracted by a flank objective. In this case, when a hasty attempt to capture Kushtia and the Hardinge Bridge miscarried, the senior commanders overreacted and diverted the entire division to the north. Although the Indian advance helped urge Pakistan’s 57 Brigade in its retreat across the Ganges, by the time 4 Division had returned to the Magura area (14 December), it was too late to participate in the drive for Dacca. The division made a fine crossing of the Madhumati (albeit against light resistance) and took the surrender of the broken remnants of Pakistani 9 Division at Faridpur on 16 December. Indian Army and BSF troops from Bengal Area under Major General P. Chowdry made limited gains on the Satkhira axis.

Shift to West The corps moved to its present location in January 1985. The pullback of over four lakh troops along with heavy armored and artillery formations from forward positions along the International Border (IB) with Pakistan was an enormous logistical exercise, with costs running into hundreds of crores of rupees. Demobilisation began from Punjab, followed by Rajasthan, Gujarat and the Jammu sector. While it took 28 days for the initial mobilisation, the pullback is expected to take slightly longer. The troops had been hanging on the border in combat readiness for 10 months, and the harsh weather and terrain took a heavy toll on both the men and their equipment.

As of around 2016, it consists of - Divisions 1 Armoured Division (Airawat Division) headquartered at Patiala. 1 Division had 1 Armoured and 43 Lorry Brigade, a scheme it retained till after the 1971 War, when armoured divisions were changed to a three-brigade layout, and 43 Lorry Brigade became 43 Armoured Brigade. 14 Infantry Division (RAPID) (Golden Key Division)] at Dehra Dun, Uttarakhand. Division Artillery Brigade is at Dehra Dun, 35 Infantry Brigade at Dehra Dun, 58 Armoured Brigade at Roorkee, and 116 Infantry Brigade at Dehra Dun. 22 Infantry Division (Charging Ram Division) headquartered at Meerut 40 Artillery Division (Deep Strikers Division) at Ambala Corps Brigades 2 Corps Artillery Brigade 474 Engineering Brigade (Kharga Engineers) headquartered at Zirakpur Independent Brigades 612 Mechanised Independent Air Defence Brigade at Ambala 16 Independent Armoured Brigade (Black Arrow Brigade) at Mamun

List of General Officers Commanding (GOCs) RankNameAppointment DateLeft officeUnit of CommissionReferencesLieutenant GeneralTapishwar Narain Raina6 October 197117 October 1973Kumaon RegimentA. M. Vohra18 October 197327 May 19753rd Gorkha RiflesZorawar Chand Bakhshi28 May 197531 January 19795th Gorkha Rifles (Frontier Force)Manohar Lal Chibber1 February 197921 July 1980 Jammu and Kashmir Light InfantrySrinivas Kumar Sinha22 July 198028 May 1981Jat RegimentHriday Kaul 29 May 198119 January 19832nd LancersNirmal Puri 20 January 198316 December 1984Armoured CorpsBiddanda Chengappa Nanda 17 December 198428 April 1986Mahar RegimentHanut Singh 29 April 198611 July 198817th Horse (Poona Horse)G. S. Grewal 12 July 198830 June 19901st Horse (Skinner's Horse)Prakash Mani Tripathi1 July 1990 15 September 199263 CavalryK. L. D'Souza16 September 199230 April 1994Mechanised Infantry RegimentS. K. Sharma1 May 1994 30 March 1995Armoured CorpsS. K. Jetley31 March 199511 October 1996Central India HorseS. S. Mehta12 October 199619 March 199863 CavalryGurbaksh Singh Sihota20 March 199830 September 2000Regiment of ArtilleryKapil Vij1 October 200029 January 200270 Armoured RegimentBhupender Singh Thakur30 January 2002September 2003Central India HorseG.D. SinghOctober 2004March 2006Armoured CorpsVijay Kumar SinghApril 2006February 2008Rajput RegimentJ. P. Singh1 March 200820 March 2009Armoured CorpsChetinder Singh21 March 200925 December 20107th Light CavalryAnil Chandra Chait26 February 201029 May 2011Armoured CorpsAmarjeet Singh Chabbewal30 May 20114 August 201267 Armoured RegimentSandeep Singh5 August 201211 August 2013Jammu and Kashmir RiflesRavindra Pratap Sahi12 August 20139 December 2014Brigade of The GuardsAmarjeet Singh10 December 201418 December 2015Bihar RegimentManoj Mukund Naravane19 December 20154 January 2017Sikh Light InfantryJaiveer Singh Negi5 January 201712 January 2018Dogra RegimentAlok Singh Kler13 January 201827 January 201968 Armoured RegimentManmohan Jeet Singh Kahlon28 January 20192 February 202075 Armoured RegimentSurinder Singh Mahal3 February 202011 February 202141 Armoured RegimentN. S. Raja Subramani12 February 202121 March 2022Garhwal RiflesPratik Sharma21 March 202231 May 2023Madras RegimentRahul R Singh 1 June 202330 June 2024Regiment of ArtilleryRajesh Pushkar1 July 202430 June 202674 Armoured RegimentManish Luthra30 June 2026IncumbentJammu and Kashmir Rifles

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