XXXIII Corps (India)

This article is about the present-day formation of the Indian Army. For British Indian formation of the Second World War, see XXXIII Corps (British India).

The XXXIII Corps, or the Trishakti Corps, is a corps of the Indian Army. It draws some of its heritage from the British Indian XXXIII Corps which was formed in 1942, but disbanded in 1945. It was re-raised in 1960 at Shillong.^[1]

XXXIII Corps
Indian Army XXXIII Corps Formation Sign
Active	1942-1945 1960-Present
Country	India
Branch	Indian Army
Role	Mountain (Holding) Corps
Size	Corps
Part of	Eastern Command
Garrison/HQ	Siliguri
Nickname(s)	Trishakti Corps
Commanders
Current commander	Lt Gen Zubin A Minwalla AVSM, YSM
Notable commanders	General Deepak Kapoor General Krishnaswamy Sundarji Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora General Gopal Gurunath Bewoor Lt Gen Harbaksh Singh

The corps is headquartered in Sukna in North Bengal and is commanded by a Three Star officer of the rank of Lieutenant General titled General Officer Commanding (GOC). His chief of staff is a Two Star officer of the rank of Major General. The total troop strength of the XXXIII corps is estimated to be between 45,000 and 60,000 soldiers.

History

The XXXIII Corps Operating Signal Regiment was a part of XIV Army during World War II. The regiment moved to its present location along with the Corps HQ in 1962. It participated in the Indo-China war of 1962 and captured some Chinese communication equipment. These equipment are kept in Corps of Signals Museum at Jabalpur to enable the future generations of soldiers know about the bravery and dedication shown by their predecessors.

Re-Raising

The corps was re-raised by Lieutenant General Umrao Singh on 1 November 1960, in order to reduce IV Corps' area of responsibility.^[1] The Corps is headquartered in Sukna in North Bengal, near the city of Siliguri. Its area of responsibility includes North Bengal, Sikkim and if needed, Bhutan. It comprises three mountain divisions, 17th (Gangtok), 20th (Binnaguri), and 27th (Kalimpong).^[2]

The coat of arms consists of a white horizontal band between two red bands (the standard formation sign background for corps in the Indian Army) with a black trident and a black spear with black wings in the foreground. The Corps HQ has an Indian Air Force air control unit attached to it, 3 TAC, commanded by a group captain. The corps also has an organic Army Aviation Helicopter Squadron based at Sevoke flying the HAL Chetak. It is commanded by a colonel. The Indian Air Force bases at Bagdogra (Siliguri) and Hashimara are the air units co-tasked to the XXXIII Corps Area of Responsibility.

ORBAT

It currently consists of:

• 17th Mountain Division (Blackcat Division^[3]) headquartered at Gangtok.
  • It was raised in 1959 and converted to a mountain division in 1963.
  • It is assigned to the Sikkim sector.^[4]
• 20th Mountain Division (Kirpan Division^[5]) headquartered at Binnaguri.
  • It was raised in 1963 and assigned to the Sikkim sector.^[4]
  • Composed of 66, 165, and 202 Mountain Brigades in 1971.
• 27th Mountain Division (Striking Lion Division^[6]) headquartered at Kalimpong.
  • It was converted to a mountain division in 1963.^[4]
• Division Artillery Brigade

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

The corps handled the sensitive Indo-Tibetan border and was responsible for the defence of the McMahon Line. The corps under Lieutenant General Mohan L. Thapan controlled 6 and 20 Mountain Divisions and 71 Mountain Brigade. While fighting the war to the south, however, the corps also had to look north and retained command of 17 and 27 Mountain Divisions on the Tibetan frontier. Furthermore, Thapan could not commit 6 Mountain Division without permission from New Delhi as it was to be held ready to move to the Bhutanese border in case China intervened in the war.

As elsewhere along the border, Indian forces in support of the Mukti Bahini made significant in roads into East Pakistan prior to 3 December. Most notable was Brigadier Pran Nath Kathpalia’s 71 Mountain Brigade, which had pushed to the outskirts of Thakurgaon by the eve of war. Efforts to capture the heavily fortified border village of Hilli, however, failed repeatedly in a struggle that raged off and on from 24 November to 11 December. Resolutely defended by Pakistani 4 Frontier Force, Hilli blocked the proposed advance of 20 Division across the narrow “waist” of this sector.

After heavy losses in front of Hilli, the 20 division solved this problem by swinging around to the north and unleashing 340 Brigade under Brigadier Joginder Singh Bakshi. Bakshi moved swiftly to control the main north-south road, unhinging the defense of Hilli, splitting Pakistani 16 Division, and opening the way to Bogra, which town he effectively controlled by war’s end. The Pakistani division, despite continued resistance by isolated units, had ceased to exist as a coherent combat formation. Indicative of the chaotic situation, General Shah and the commander of 205 Brigade, Brigadier Tajammul Hussain Malik, were almost captured when Indian forces ambushed their convoy on 7 December. On the other hand, a last-minute Indian moves north by 66 and 202 Brigades to capture Rangpur proved unsuccessful.

In secondary actions, 9 Mountain Brigade secured most of the area north of the Tista River and an ad hoc command of Indian BSF and Mukti Bahini under Brigadier Prem Singh pushed out of Malda to capture Nawabganj in the extreme southeastern corner of the sector. Despite Bakshi’s performance and the generally successful advance of 71 Brigade, much of XXXIII Corps’ offensive power was allowed to lie idle far too long and Pakistani troops still held the major towns of the sector (Rangpur, Saidpur, Dinajpur, Nator, Rajshahi) when the cease-fire was announced. Likewise, the cease-fire intervened before the Indians could implement a hastily conceived plan to transfer 340 Brigade, a tank squadron, and an artillery battery across the Jamuna via the Phulchari ferry to take part in the advance on Dacca. With the exception of this squadron, all the armour was preparing to transfer to the west by the end of the war.

General Officers Commanding

Rank	Name	Appointment Date	Left Office	Unit of Commission	References
Lieutenant General	Umrao Singh	1 November 1960	28 October 1962	Rajputana Rifles	[7]
	Harbaksh Singh	29 October 1962	29 October 1964	Sikh Regiment	[8]
	Gopal Gurunath Bewoor	30 October 1964	26 April 1967	10th Baluch Regiment
	Jagjit Singh Aurora	27 April 1967	March 1969	Punjab Regiment
	Mohan L Thapan	1969	May 1972	Jat Regiment
	H C Rai	June 1972	July 1974	Rajputana Rifles	[9]
	WAG Pinto	1976	1978	13th Frontier Force Rifles	[10]
	Krishnaswamy Sundarji	February 1979	January 1980	Mahar Regiment
	Krishnaswami Balaram	January 1980	26 December 1981	Corps of Signals
	S S Brar	27 December 1981	11 December 1983	Armoured Corps
	J K Puri	12 December 1983		Regiment of Artillery	[11]
	M R Sharma			Dogra Regiment
	Arun Kumar Gautama	July 1993	April 1994	16th Light Cavalry	[12]
	A B Masih			Kumaon Regiment	[13]
	H R S Mann	4 October 1999	19 November 2000	Brigade of the Guards	[14]
	Ashok Chaki	20 November 2000	19 August 2002	4th Gorkha Rifles	[14]
	Avtar Singh	20 August 2002	20 February 2004	Jat Regiment	[14]
	Deepak Kapoor	21 February 2004	14 April 2005	Regiment of Artillery	[14]
	Thomas Mathew	15 April 2005	25 August 2006	Rajput Regiment	[14]
	C K S Sabu	26 August 2006	25 September 2007	Regiment of Artillery	[14]
	Deepak Raj	26 September 2007	31 August 2008	Mechanised Infantry Regiment	[15]
	Prashant Kumar Rath	1 September 2008	25 November 2009	Regiment of Artillery	[15]
	D S Sidhu	26 November 2009	2 November 2010	17th Horse (Poona Horse)	[15]
	Vinod Bhatia	3 November 2010	24 November 2011	Parachute Regiment	[15]
	Kotheneth Surendranath	25 November 2011	31 January 2013	71 Armoured Regiment	[15]
	Kamal Jit Singh	1 February 2013	11 May 2014	63rd Cavalry	[15]
	G S Chandel	12 May 2014	25 July 2015	Bihar Regiment	[15]
	Surinder Singh	26 July 2015	26 August 2016	Brigade of the Guards	[16]
	Sanjay Kumar Jha	27 August 2016	27 August 2017	The Sikh Regiment	[17]
	Pradeep M Bali	28 August 2017	29 August 2018	Punjab Regiment	[18]
	Chandi Prasad Mohanty	30 August 2018	13 September 2019	Rajput Regiment	[19]
	Nav Kumar Khanduri	13 September 2019	13 September 2020	Corps of Army Air Defence	[20]
	Ajai Kumar Singh	14 September 2020	21 October 2021	11th Gorkha Rifles	[21]
	Tarun Kumar Aich	22 October 2021	31 October 2022	Madras Regiment	[22][23]
	VPS Kaushik	01 November 2022	09 June 2024	Kumaon Regiment	[24]
	Zubin A Minwalla	10 June 2024	Incumbent	9th Gorkha Rifles	[25]

References

1. "Serving the nation for 46 years". www.telegraphindia.com.
2. Kenneth Conboy, Elite Forces of India and Pakistan, Osprey
3. Pike, John. "17 Mountain Division / Black Cat Division". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
4. Conboy et al, p.8
5. Pike, John. "20 Infantry Division / Kirpan Division". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
6. Pike, John. "27 Mountain Division / Striking Lion Division". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
7. "Dhola Post that triggered war was on China's side of McMahon Line". 2014-03-22. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
8. "Lt General Harbaksh Singh: An officer and a gentleman". 1999-11-06. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
9. "Lt Gen Rai takes over Northern Command" (PDF). 1974-07-23. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
10. "PIB release" (PDF). 1920-06-30. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
11. "Lt Gen JK Puri Vice Chief Of The Army Staff Retires" (PDF). 1987-08-31. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
12. "Ex-Western Army Commander Lt Gen Gautama passes away". 2022-11-28. Retrieved 2022-12-22.
13. "General quits under cloud". 2000-04-11. Retrieved 2021-06-29.
14. shabana, syeda (30 August 2018). "LIEUTENANT GENERAL CP MOHANTY TAKES OVER AS GENERAL OFFICER COMMANDING TRISHAKTI CORPSpic.twitter.com/YykDEduFh0". @shabana3637.
15. "West Bengal: Delegation of 8 senior military officials of Chinese People's Liberation Army, led by Lt Gen Liu Xiaowu Dy Commander of Western Theatre Command arrived at Sukna y'day on a 2-day visit to Trishakti Corps. The visit is aimed at enhancing bilateral defence cooperation.pic.twitter.com/yRIoWAaKDT". @ANI. 4 July 2018.
16. "Lt Gen Surinder Singh to be army's Western Command chief". Hindustan Times. 9 August 2016.
17. "Army issues posting orders for four corps commanders". The Indian Express. 14 July 2017.
18. Gurung, Shaurya Karanbir. "Chinese Army delegation arrives in India to improve coordination along border". The Economic Times.
19. "Army to debut its Mountain Strike Corps next month, at HimVijay exercise in Arunachal". www.uniindia.com. 2018-08-30. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
20. "Lt. Gen Nav K Khanduri assumes charge as commander of Trishakti Corps". www.aninews.in. Retrieved 2019-09-21.
21. "Lt Gen AK Singh calls on Sikkim CM". 2020-12-10. Retrieved 2021-07-01.
22. aich, tarun kumar. "Tarun Kumar Aich takes over 33 corps".
23. regiment, madras. "16 Madras Regiment".
24. "Lt Gen VPS Kaushik took over as General Officer Commanding of Trishakti Corps from Lt Gen TK Aich". 2022-11-01. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
25. "Lt Gen Zubin Minwalla took over as General Officer Commanding of Trishakti Corps from Lt Gen VPS Kaushik". 2024-06-10. Retrieved 2024-06-11.

Sources

• Jane's World Armies, Issue 19, 2006
• Globalsecurity.org