Former Indian Army Chief General Sundararajan Padmanabhan Passes Away at 83

GUWAHATI: Former Indian Army Chief General Sundararajan Padmanabhan has died in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The Indian Army announced the news on Monday. He was 83 years old.

General Sundararajan Padmanabhan, born on December 5, 1940, in Trivandrum, Kerala, was a highly respected figure in the Indian Army. He was an alumnus of the Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) in Dehradun and the National Defence Academy (NDA) in Pune.

After completing his training at the Indian Military Academy (IMA), he was commissioned into the Indian Army's Regiment of Artillery on December 13, 1959.

Over his distinguished career, General Padmanabhan held a variety of important command, staff, and instructional positions. He commanded an Independent Light Battery from 1975 to 1976 and the Gazala Mountain Regiment from 1977 to 1980.

His expertise also saw him serve as an Instructor Gunnery at the School of Artillery in Deolali, Brigade Major of an infantry brigade, and Colonel General Staff of a Mountain Division, where he was honored with the Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) for his exceptional service.

Known affectionately as "Paddy" among his peers, he also served as an Instructor at the IMA and led both an Independent Artillery Brigade and a Mountain Brigade.

Notably, he commanded an Infantry Brigade from 1988 to 1991 and an Infantry Division in Punjab from 1991 to 1992. He later became the Chief of Staff of the 3 Corps and served as the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 15 Corps in Kashmir from 1993 to 1995.

His leadership during this time was critical in the army's successes against militants, earning him the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM).

General Padmanabhan went on to serve as the Director General Military Intelligence (DGMI) and was later appointed as the GOC of the Northern Command in Udhampur in 1996.

He also commanded the Southern Command before retiring on December 31, 2002, after more than 43 years of dedicated service.

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