Yogesh Kumar Joshi

Lieutenant General Yogesh Kumar Joshi, UYSM, AVSM, VrC, SM, ADC is a serving General Officer in the Indian Army. He is the current General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command, assuming office from Lt Gen Ranbir Singh on 1 February 2020. He last served as the Chief of staff of the Northern Command, assuming the office from Lt Gen SK Sharma. Previously, he was the commander of Leh based Fire & Fury Corps.

Gen Joshi hails from Faridabad, Haryana and is the son of R P Joshi. He is a graduate of the 60th course and was allotted Kilo"K" squadron at the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, Pune, Maharashtra. Then he attended Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.

He was commissioned into 13 Jammu and Kashmir Rifles. He has also served as the Director General of Infantry and ADG of Military Operations Branch in the Army HQ prior to his appointment as DG Infantry and subsequently GOC of XIV corp. He is the colonel of the regiment of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles & the Ladakh Scouts. He was the 17th Commander, XIV Corps of the Indian Army and assumed the post on 31 August 2018, This was General Joshi's fourth tenure dealing with Chinese troops. He assumed the post from Lt General Santosh Kumar Upadhya.

Kargil War

He was a Lt colonel during Kargil War. He led 13th Battalion of the JAK Rif in Dras. His battalion launched four attacks,most successful of which was on Pt 4875 which is now called Batra Top after Capt. Vikram Batra who was martyred in action and was awarded the Param Vir Chakra. The Battalion was also conferred with the title of the 'Bravest Of the Brave' His battalion was awarded a total more than twentyfive Gallantry medals during Kargil War including two Param Vir Chakras, eight Vir Chakras (including him) and fourteen Sena Medals. He was the commanding officer of Param Vir Chakra awardees Captain Vikram Batra and Rifleman Sanjay Kumar.

An expert on China

The uniqueness that Gen Joshi brings to his office is not only his knowledge of the Chinese language but also the fact that he has served thrice before in the eastern Ladakh sector and has commanded a Brigade and a Division before taking over as commander of Fire & Fury Corps.He also served as a Defence Attache to China (2005-2008) and negotiated the technicalities of the first India-China joint exercise “Hand-in-Hand” in Kunming in 2007 and led Army talks with China.

The citation for the Vir Chakra reads as follows

Gazette Notification: 18 Pres/2000,15-8-99

Operation: - Date of Award: 15 Aug 1999

CITATION

LIEUTENANT COLONEL YOGESH KUMAR JOSHI

13 JAMMU AND KASHMIR RIFLES

Lieutenant Colonel Yogesh Kumar Joshi, 13 Jammu & Kashmir Rifles, was tasked to capture the strategically vital Point 5140 in Drass Sector during "Operation Vijay". Lieutenant Colonel Joshi conceived a brilliant plan catering for coordinated action to achieve total surprise and psychological dominance over the tactically better positioned enemy. He also personally supervised all preliminary actions before the attack. During the attack on 20 June 1999, Lieutenant Colonel Joshi kept motivating his company commanders and kept staging himself forward with utter disregard to his personal safety. Displaying exceptional presence of mind, he responded to changing battle situations in a most competent manner, his leading from the front and being well forward in battle acted as a morale booster to the attaching troops. Drawing inspiration from him, the attacking companies surmounted the heavy odds, rugged in-hospitable terrain and enemy fire to close in and capture the objective, important peak of Point 5140.

Lieutenant Colonel Yogesh Kumar Joshi displayed exemplary leadership, outstanding command and control and valour beyond the call of duty, leading to killing of six enemy intruders and recapturing of the strategically vital Point 5140 in Drass Sector.

During his career, he has been awarded with Uttam Yudh Seva Medal for commanding the Fire & Fury Corps (Republic Day 2020), Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (Republic Day 2016), the Vir Chakra (Independence Day 1999) for his part in the Operation Vijay and the Sena Medal.

Gen Joshi has been portrayed twice in films, first by actor Sanjay Dutt in LOC: Kargil (2003), and second by actor Shataf Figar in Shershaah (2021).