Chennai: India’s 20th Chief of Army Staff General Sundararajan Padmanabhan, a highly decorated officer under whose leadership the Indian Army made big gains over armed militants in Jammu and Kashmir in the early 1990s, passed away here on Monday. He was 83 and is survived by his wife, daughter, and son, who is air-dashing from the United States.
General Padmanabhan, who was affectionately known as Paddy within the army circles, was unwell for some time and he breathed his last at his apartment in upscale Besant Nagar here on Monday morning. His last rites will be conducted on Tuesday.
Tamil Nadu governor R N Ravi, GOC (Dakshin Bharath Area) Lt Gen Karanbir Singh Brar, and Health Minister Ma Subramanian are among those who paid last respects to the former Army Chief.
Serving as the Army Chief from September 2000 to December 2002, Gen. Padmanabhan was born in Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram on December 5, 1940, and was an alumnus of the prestigious Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehradun and the National Defence Academy (NDA), Pune.
One of the crowning moments of the former Army Chief’s 43-year-long service in the Indian Army is his invaluable his contributions to combating militancy in Jammu and Kashmir as the Commander of the 15 Corps.
As Lieutenant General and Commander of the 15 Corps in the Kashmir Valley from July 1993 to February 1995, Gen. Padmanabhan was instrumental in the Army making big gains over militants in Kashmir and could even scale down its operations. His splendid job in the border state, which continues to deal with armed militants, earned him the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) after which he was appointed as the Director General of Military Intelligence (DGMI).
Gen Padmanabhan also served as the General officer commanding (GOC) of the Northern Command and Southern Command before he was chosen as the 20th Chief of Army Staff. A deeply religious person, who was known for his integrity and keeping the morale of his men high, Gen Padmanabhan refused to take up any post-retirement job and settled in Chennai after his tenure as the Army Chief ended in 2002.
A prolific writer who penned two books, Padmanabhan was Commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery after graduating from the Indian Military Academy (IMA) on December 13, 1959. He commanded an independent Artillery Brigade and a Mountain Brigade before attending the prestigious NDC course at New Delhi.
Padmanabhan’s career included several prestigious command, staff and instructional postings, besides having participated in numerous operations.
He commanded an Independent Light Battery from August 1975 to July 1976 and later on commanded the Gazala Mountain Regiment from September 1977 to March 1980.
“This mountain regiment is one of the oldest artillery regiments of the Indian Army and has participated in several wars. He served as Instructor Gunnery at the School of Artillery in Deolali, been a Brigade Major of an infantry brigade on its raising and served as Colonel General Staff of a Mountain Division from January 1983 to May 1985, where he was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM),” his profile on the Army website reads.