551 New Delhi, June 1 Lt Gen Manoj Pande on Tuesday took charge as the new commander of the operationally crucial Eastern Army Command at a time India has been maintaining a high state of combat readiness along the nearly 3,500 km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China in view of the border row in eastern Ladakh. The Kolkata-headquartered Eastern Command takes care of guarding the LAC in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh sectors. In another important posting, Lt Gen Ajai Singh became the 16th Commander-in-Chief of the Andaman and Nicobar Command (CINCAN) which is India’s only tri-service theatre command. Lt Gen Singh succeeds Lt Gen Pande at the Andaman and Nicobar Command.