XVI Corps (India)

XVI Corps
Indian Army XVI Corps Formation Sign
Active	1972 – present
Country	India
Branch	Indian Army
Role	Anti-aircraft warfare<br>Anti-tank warfare<br>Artillery observer<br>Close-quarters combat <br>Combined arms<br>Counter-battery fire<br>Counterinsurgency<br>Disaster response<br>Indirect fire<br>Jungle warfare<br>Maneuver warfare<br>Military communications<br>Military engineering<br>Military logistics<br>Mountain warfare<br>Raiding<br>Reconnaissance<br>Screening<br>Urban warfare
Size	Corps
Part of	Northern Command
Garrison/HQ	Nagrota
Nickname(s)	White Knight Corps
Equipment	<!-- Commanders -->
Commanders
Current commander	Lt Gen Prasanna Kishore Mishra<br/>AVSM, YSM, SM
Insignia
Identification symbol	<!-- Culture and history -->

The XVI Corps, or the White Knight Corps, is an army corps of the Indian Army raised on 1 June 1972 with Lieutenant General J F R Jacob as its first General Officer Commanding (GOC). It has its headquarters at Nagrota Cantonment, (Jammu district), Jammu and Kashmir. In 2005, IX Corps was raised in southern part of the XVI Corps' area, taking over two of its divisions.

Order of battle

The corps is reported to include

• 10th Infantry Division (RAPID) (Crossed Swords Division), headquartered at Akhnoor
• 25 Infantry Division (Ace of Spades Division), headquartered at Rajouri
• 39 Infantry Division (Dah Division), headquartered at Palampur, Himachal Pradesh
• One Bhairav Light Commando Battalion<ref name=":9">Rana, Javaria (25 August 2025). "Army ramps up two-front readiness, 5 Bhairav Commando units ready for frontline deployment". ThePrint. Retrieved 25 August 2025.</ref><ref name=":10">"Bhairav commandos to add muscle to Army by October 31". The Times of India. 30 August 2025. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 1 September 2025.</ref><ref>Singh, Rahul (22 October 2025). "New weapons, specialist units to boost army's capabilities". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 22 October 2025.</ref>
• Delta Force and Romeo Force of the Rashtriya Rifles come under the operational control of the corps.<ref>"Army's elite counter-insurgency unit Rashtriya Rifles turns 25 tomorrow". The Economic Times. 11 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2021.</ref>

Its current General Officer Commanding is Lieutenant General PK Mishra.

Lt Gen Harsha Gupta assuming command of White Knight Corps (16 Corps) from Lt Gen Paramjit Singh Sangha, on 12 Oct 2019.

General Manoj Pande, COAS, visiting 16 Corps, August 2022.

List of commanders

Rank	Name	Appointment date	Left office	Unit of commission	References
Lieutenant General	J F R Jacob	17 June 1972	23 July 1974	Regiment of Artillery	<ref>Khullar, Darshan (2017). Themes of Glory: Indian Artillery in War. VIJ Books (India) Pty Ltd. ISBN 978-9385563973.</ref>
	K V Krishna Rao	24 July 1974	15 March 1978	Mahar Regiment	<ref>"Part I-Section 4: Ministry of Defence (Army Branch)". The Gazette of India. 15 March 1975. p. 353.</ref>
	D K Chandorkar	20 March 1978	30 June 1979	Rajputana Rifles
	K Chiman Singh	01 July 1979	29 July 1981	Rajputana Rifles
	A K Handoo	30 July 1981	09 March 1983	Brigade of Guards
	K K Hazari	10 May 1983	25 September 1985	Regiment of Artillery
	M Mayadas	26 September 1985	27 October 1986	5th Armoured Regiment
	Sunith Francis Rodrigues	28 October 1986	31 October 1987	Regiment of Artillery
	Vijay Singh	01 November 1987	14 October 1989
	Harwant Singh	15 October 1989	25 September 1991	62 Cavalry
	Shankar Roychowdhury	26 September 1991	15 August 1992	20 Lancers	<ref>"General S Roy Chowdhury". Retrieved 15 July 2021.</ref>
	H S Bedi	31 August 1992	08 May 1994	Dogra Regiment
	Manjit Singh Bhullar	09 May 1994	23 January 1997	Sikh Regiment
	D S Chauhan	24 January 1997	30 January 1999	Madras Regiment	<ref>"Local support to militants in Jammu wanes: army". 22 January 1999. Retrieved 15 July 2021.</ref>
	Arjun Singh Khanna	31 January 1999	31 March 2001	Regiment of Artillery	<ref>"PIB" (PDF). 31 March 2001. Retrieved 15 July 2021.</ref>
	J.B.S. Yadava	01 April 2001	19 August 2002	11th Gorkha Rifles	<ref>"Chaki, Yadav take over as deputy chiefs of Army staff". The Times of India. 1 September 2002. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 5 March 2023.</ref><ref>Dugger, Celia W. (15 June 2002). "For Indian Troops on Line of Control, Anger Hasn't Subsided". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 14 September 2023.</ref>
	T P S Brar	20 August 2002	17 November 2003	Maratha Light Infantry	<ref name="Kapur">"Lt Gen Kapur takes over GOC 16 corps in J&K". 3 December 2003. Retrieved 15 July 2021.</ref>
	Ashok Kapur	18 November 2003	04 December 2004	Sikh Light Infantry	<ref name="Kapur" />
	Sudhir Sharma	05 December 2004	20 April 2006	Brigade of Guards
	T K Sapru	02 May 2006	31 October 2007	4th Gorkha Rifles	<ref name="tribuneindia.com">"The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories". www.tribuneindia.com. Archived from the original on 24 June 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2017.</ref>
	R K Karwal	01 November 2007	17 October 2008	Rajput Regiment	<ref>"Karwal new 16 Core Commander - Early Times Newspaper Jammu Kashmir". www.earlytimes.in. Retrieved 13 December 2017.</ref>
	R K Swamy	18 October 2008	16 October 2009	Mahar Regiment	<ref>"Swamy new 16 Corps Chief - Early Times Newspaper Jammu Kashmir". www.earlytimes.in. Retrieved 13 December 2017.</ref>
	Romeshwar Roy	17 October 2009	04 December 2010	Jammu and Kashmir Rifles	<ref>"Lt Gen Roy to take over as GOC 16 Corps tomorrow". news.webindia123.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.</ref>
	Jai Prakash Nehra	10 December 2010	01 November 2011	Madras Regiment	<ref>"Gen. Nehra takes over as GoC 16 Corps". Archived from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.</ref>
	A S Nandal	02 November 2011	04 October 2012	5th Gorkha Rifles	<ref>"Lt Gen Nehra hands over command to Lt Gen Nandal". www.merinews.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.</ref><ref>"Nandal takes over as new GOC 16 Corps Indian Army - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. Retrieved 13 December 2017.</ref>
	Deependra Singh Hooda	05 October 2012	16 April 2014	4th Gorkha Rifles	<ref>"Lt Gen Hooda new GOC of 16 corps". Zee News. 4 October 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2017.</ref>
	Konsam Himalay Singh	17 April 2014	23 July 2015	Rajput Regiment	<ref>"Lt Gen Singh assumes command of 16 Corps". www.hindustantimes.com/. 16 April 2014. Retrieved 13 December 2017.</ref>
	Rajendra Ramrao Nimbhorkar	24 July 2015	08 October 2016	Punjab Regiment	<ref>"Lt Gen Nimbhorkar takes over as General Officer Commanding of 16 Corps". News18. Retrieved 13 December 2017.</ref><ref name=":0">"Lt Gen A K Sharma takes over as GoC of 16 Corps". Retrieved 13 December 2017.</ref>
	Ajae Kumar Sharma	09 October 2016	10 October 2017	Sikh Regiment	<ref name=":0" />
	Saranjeet Singh	11 October 2017	11 October 2018	Sikh Light Infantry	Tourism | Breaking News J&K. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017.</ref>
	Paramjit Singh Sangha	12 October 2018	12 October 2019	Parachute Regiment	<ref name="timesofindia.indiatimes.com">"Surgical strikes: Lt Gen Paramjit Singh involved in surgical strike planning takes over as XVI Corps GOC &#124; India News - Times of India". The Times of India.</ref>
	Harsha Gupta	13 October 2019	13 October 2020	Sikh Light Infantry	<ref>Corps, White Knight (12 October 2019). "Lt Gen Harsha Gupta assumed command of elite @WhiteKnightCorps from Lt Gen Paramjit Singh Sangha, on 12 Oct 19. He exhorted all ranks to continue to strive for excellence & be combat ready to thwart nefarious designs of enemy & inimical forces @NorthernComd_IA @adgpipic.twitter.com/sebJQhk3Uq". @Whiteknight_IA. Retrieved 12 October 2019.</ref>
	M. V. Suchindra Kumar	14 October 2020	28 October 2021	Assam Regiment	<ref>"16 Corps gets a new commander amid a spike in LoC ceasefire violations by Pakistan". www.hindustantimes.com. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.</ref>
	Manjinder Singh	29 October 2021	23 December 2022	Madras Regiment	<ref>"Lt Gen Manjinder Singh takes over as GOC of White Knight Corps". 29 October 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2021.</ref>
	Sandeep Jain	24 December 2022	31 December 2023	Mahar Regiment	<ref>"Lt Gen Sandeep Jain, SM, on assuming the command of the elite White Knight Corps". 23 December 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2022.</ref>
	Navin Sachdeva	01 January 2024	31 March 2025	Garhwal Rifles	<ref>"Lt-Gen Navin Sachdeva assumes command of 16 Corps". The Times of India. 2 January 2024. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 24 June 2024.</ref>
	Prasanna Kishore Mishra	01 April 2025	Incumbent	Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry	<ref>PK, Mishra. "Lt gen PK Mishra takes over 16 corps". Times of India. Sanjay Khajuria. Retrieved 13 April 2025.</ref>

References

<references />

Further reading

• Richard A. Renaldi and Ravi Rikhe, Indian Army Order of Battle, Orbat.com for Tiger Lily Books: A division of General Data LLC, ISBN 978-0-9820541-7-8, 2011.

External links

• Globalsecurity.org, Nagrota Corps / XVI Corps / White Knight Corps, accessed July 2010
• Official twitter handle