Army Chief Gen Dhiraj Seth Meets Samudra Pradakshina's Nine Women Officers

Chief of Army Staff General Dhiraj Seth interacted with the nine women officers of the first-ever tri-service all-women circumnavigation expedition, Samudra Pradakshina, following their return on July 22, 2026. The crew completed the voyage in 314 days, covering nearly 25,500 nautical miles across four oceans.

The expedition, drawing women officers from the Army, Navy and Air Force aboard the Indian Army Sailing Vessel Triveni, marked the first time a joint tri-service women's crew had completed a full ocean circumnavigation, building on the precedent set by the Navy's earlier all-women voyages.

The Army Chief's interaction with the crew, coming shortly after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's felicitation of the same officers, reflects the level of institutional attention the expedition has drawn within the armed forces' leadership as an example of joint-service coordination and endurance training.

Covering four oceans over more than ten months required sustained technical and physical preparation from the officers, alongside coordination between the three services to keep the joint crew supported through the voyage's various legs.

The Army Chief's meeting with the officers is expected to feed into the services' continuing efforts to showcase women's participation in operational and expedition roles, alongside the training pipelines that produced the crew for this voyage.