- Air Marshal Saju Balakrishnan, AVSM, VM has taken over as the 17th Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command (CINCAN) on 01 May 2023.
- The Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) is the only Joint-services Command in India and serves as a model for the country’s planned theaterisation of Army, Navy, and Air Force capabilities.
- Air Marshal Saju Balakrishnan is a distinguished alumnus of the National Defence Academy Khadakwasla, having been commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in 1986.
- With over 3200 accident-free fighter flying hours on various variants of MIG-21 and Kiran aircraft, he is an accomplished fighter combat leader.
- The Air Marshal has held various key positions throughout his illustrious career, including CO of a Bison Squadron, the first Commanding Officer of an AWACS Squadron, and Air Officer Commanding at the prestigious AF Station at Jodhpur.
- Before assuming Command of ANC he was the Senior Air Staff Officer at the IAF Training Command at Bengaluru.
Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC):-
- It is India’s first and only tri-service theater command, established in the year 2001. It was built to protect India’s strategic interests in Southeast Asia and the Malacca Straits.
- The Government of India has established a full-fledged naval base INS Kohassa in North Andaman Island.
- It conducts bi-annual Coordinated Patrols (CORPAT) with the navies of Thailand and Indonesia, the annual SIMBEX maritime exercise with Singapore and the bi-annual MILAN multilateral naval exercise.
