General Sundararajan Padmanabhan, the 20th Chief of the Indian Army, said goodbye to this world on Monday. General Padmanabhan, also known as ‘Paddy’ in the army circle , breathed his last yesterday (19.08.2024) in his apartment in Basant Nagar, Chennai. He was ill for some time.
General Sundararajan Padmanabhan was 83 years old and had served in the army for 43 years. General Padmanabhan is survived by his wife and son. The last rites will be performed on Tuesday after his son returns from America.
Born on 5 December 1940 in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of Kerala, General Sundararajan took command of the Indian Army in October 2000 after the Kargil war and remained the Chief of Army Staff of India till December 2022.
General Padmanabhan, an alumni of Rashtriya Indian Military College (Dehradun) and National Defence Academy, had a tenure of great achievement from July 1993 to February 1995 when he was the commander of Jammu Kashmir based 15th Corps of the Indian Army. During his tenure, the army strongly fought terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. After this, he was posted as the Director General of Military Intelligence ( DGMI) . He was also decorated with the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM).
General Sundararajan Padmanabhan, a graduate from the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, was commissioned in the Artillery in December 1959. Before being made the Army Chief, General Padmanabhan was the General Commanding Officer (GoC) of the Northern and Southern Commands of the Indian Army. From 1977 to 1980, he commanded the historic and prestigious Gazala Mountain Regiment of the Indian Army, which has participated in all the important wars.
