Secretary-General Appoints Major General Jai Shanker Menon of India to Head United Nations Disengagement Observer Force

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the appointment of Major General Jai Shanker Menon of India as the Head of Mission and Force Commander of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF).

Major General Menon succeeds Lieutenant General Purna Chandra Thapa of Nepal, who will complete his assignment on 7 February, and to whom the Secretary-General is grateful to for his dedicated leadership during a particularly difficult period in the mission’s history.

The new Force Commander brings to his new position extensive command experience and knowledge of peacekeeping affairs at the national and international levels.  At the time of his appointment, he was Additional Director General Equipment Management in the Indian Army.  From 2012 to 2013, he served as General Officer Commanding an Infantry Division, and held a number of other command positions, including Commandant of the Regimental Training Centre, Brigade Commander and Battalion Commander.

Major General Menon’s international experience included service as a Military Observer with the United Nations Operation in Mozambique in 1993, and with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), from 2007 to 2009.

The holder of a Master of Management Studies degree from Osmania University in Hyderabad, India, Major General Menon also earned a Master of Defence Studies degree from Madras University in Chennai, India, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India.  He is also a graduate of India’s National Defence Academy in Khadakvasla, Army War College in Mhow, Defence Services Staff College in Wellington, and the College of Defence Management in Secunderabad.

Born in 1959, he is married and has two daughters.