Secretary-General Appoints Lieutenant General Shailesh Tinaikar of India Force Commander of United Nations Mission in South Sudan

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today announced the appointment of Lieutenant General Shailesh Tinaikar of India as his new Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).

Lieutenant General Tinaikar succeeds Lieutenant General Frank Kamanzi of Rwanda who will complete his assignment on 26 May 2019.  The Secretary-General is grateful for his tireless dedication, invaluable service and effective leadership.

Lieutenant General Shailesh Tinaikar has had a long and distinguished career with the Indian Armed Forces spanning over 34 years.  He graduated from the Indian Military Academy in 1983 and is currently Commandant of The Infantry School since July 2018.  He previously served as the Additional Director General of Military Operations at Army Headquarters from 2017 to 2018.  From 2012 to 2017, he commanded a division, a recruit training centre and a brigade, among other appointments within the Indian Armed Forces.  He has been awarded the Sena Medal and the Vishisht Seva Medal for Distinguished Service.

From 1996 to 1997, he served in the United Nations Angola Verification Mission III, and from 2008 to 2009, in the United Nations Mission in Sudan.

He holds a Master of Philosophy in Defence and Strategic Studies from the University of Madras, India, awarded in December 2014.

Born in 1962, he is married and has one child.