The Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command (CINCAN) is the head of the Andaman and Nicobar Command, the first and only Tri-service theater command of the Indian Armed Forces, based at Sri Vijaya Puram (formerly Port Blair) in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a Union Territory of India.
The current CINCAN is Vice Admiral Vineet McCarty who took command on 1 June 2026 as the 20th CINCAN.
History The Andaman and Nicobar Islands became a Union territory of India in 1956. The first military unit on the islands was the naval base INS Jarawa, which was commissioned in 1964. The base was commanded by a Resident Naval Officer (RNO). After establishing subsequent garrisons in the islands, the post was upgraded to Naval Officer-in-Charge Andaman & Nicobar (NOIC A&N). The naval establishments were under the command of the Eastern Naval Command during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. In October 1976, the operational control of all forces in the islands was given, and the post was upgraded to Commodore, Andaman & Nicobar (COMAN). Shortly afterwards, all establishments came under the newly created Fortress Andaman & Nicobar to signify jointness. The appointment was redesignated to Fortress Commander, Andaman and Nicobar Islands (FORTAN). In 1978, INS Kardip was commissioned as a Forward operating base.
In March 1981, FORTAN was upgraded to a Two star appointment tenanted by a Rear Admiral. In 1987, the post was further upgraded to a three star appointment. In 1998, a 'Far East Naval Command' (FENC) was proposed, to be commanded by a Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Far East Naval Command.
With the operationalisation of the A & N Command as a unified theatre command in October 2001, Vice Admiral Arun Prakash, took over as the First Commander-in-Chief of the unified command.
Organisation The CINCAN is a Three-star rank officer from the three Services in rotation. The CINCAN reports directly to the Chief of Defence Staff (India) (CDS) in New Delhi. He is assisted by the Chief of Staff of the command, a two-star officer and the commanders of each component (sea, land, air) - one-star officers.
List of Commanders The following is a list of Commanders-in-Chief of the A&N command. NoPortrait NameBranchAppointment DateLeft officeReferences1Vice Admiral Arun Prakash 8 October 200130 December 20022Vice Admiral O. P. Bansal 15 January 200330 September 20033Lieutenant General Bhupender Singh Thakur 1 October 200313 January 20054Lieutenant General Aditya Singh 14 January 200527 February 20065Vice Admiral Arun Kumar Singh 28 February 200625 October 20066Air Marshal Packiam Paul Rajkumar 2 December 200631 December 20077Air Marshal Sadasivan Radhakrishnan 1 January 200830 September 20088Vice Admiral Vijay Shankar 30 September 200830 September 20099Vice Admiral Devendra Kumar Joshi 30 September 200928 December 201010Lieutenant General N. C. Marwah 1 January 201131 October 201211Air Marshal Pramon Kumar Roy 2 November 201230 June 201412Vice Admiral Pradeep Kumar Chatterjee 1 July 201428 February 201613Vice Admiral Bimal Verma 29 February 20161 December 201914Lieutenant General Podali Shankar Rajeshwar 1 December 201931 May 202015Lieutenant General Manoj Pande 1 June 202031 May 202116Lieutenant General Ajai Singh 1 June 202130 April 202317Air Marshal Saju Balakrishnan 1 May 202331 May 202518Lieutenant General Dinesh Singh Rana 1 June 202530 September 202519Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar 1 October 202525 May 202620Vice Admiral Vineet McCarty 1 June 2026Present
Number of CINCAN by branches of service Branch Count 7 9 4
See also Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee Chief of Integrated Defence Staff Andaman and Nicobar Command
References
Bibliography
External links Official Website - CINCAN