Ex-Army Chief Gen Sundararajan Padmanabhan dies in Chennai

Former Chief of Army Staff General Sundararajan Padmanabhan affectionately known as ldquoPaddyrdquo in army circles passed away due to old age at his residence here a source close to him said on MondayHe was 83 He served as the Chief of Army Staff from September 30 2000 to 31 December 31 2002General Padmanabhan is survived by wife daughter and a son His children will be arriving from the US tonightThe funeral will be held tomorrow eveningGeneral Padmanabhan commanded an Independent Artillery Brigade and a Mountain Brigade before attending the prestigious NDC course at DelhiHe was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal AVSM for his services as the 15 Corps CommanderBorn in Thiruvananthapuram Kerala on December 5 1940 General Padmanabhan was an alumnus of the prestigious Rashtriya Indian Military College RIMC Dehra Dun and the National Defence Academy NDA Khadakwasla in PuneHe was commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery after graduating from the Indian Military Academy IMA on December 13 1959His illustrious career included several prestigious command staff and instructional postings besides having participated in numerous operations a Defence release here saidA graduate of the Defence Services Staff College DSSC at Wellington in 1973 and the National Defence College NDC at New Delhi 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 1980This mountain regiment is one of the oldest artillery regiments of the Indian Army and has participated in several warsHe 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 He has also spent two tenures as an instructor at the IMAHe commanded an Infantry Brigade from December 1988 to February 1991 at Ranchi Bihar and Punjab and was then appointed as the General Officer Commanding of an Infantry Division in Punjab from March 1991 to August 1992He served as Chief of Staff 3 Corps from September 1992 to June 1993 After his promotion to Lieutenant General he was commander of the 15 Corps in the Kashmir valley from July 1993 to February 1995 It was during his tenure as the 15 Corps Commander that the Army made big gains over the militants in Kashmir and could even scale down its operationsGeneral Padmanabhan held the appointment of Director General Military Intelligence DGMI after the successful culmination of which he took over as the GOC of the Northern Command at Udhampur on September 1 1996Before being appointed as the Chief of Army Staff he was the GOC of Southern CommandHe retired on December 31 2002 after completing more than 43 years of distinguished military servicePaying his tributes Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said he was deeply saddened by the passing away of former Chief of Army Staff General S PadmanabhanldquoHis exemplary leadership and unwavering dedication to our nations security will always be rememberedrdquo the CM said in a post on XStalin conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved familyTamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi paid tributes to the mortal remains of the former Army Chief at his residence in Adyar hereThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever