New Delhi,General OP Malhotra passed away in the morning today (29 Dec
2015) due to old age at the age of 93 years at his residence in Gurgaon.
General Dalbir Singh, the Chief of Army Staff has expressed his deepest
condolences towards this great loss. General Om Prakash Malhotra was the
13th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army from 1978 – 1981, the Ambassador of
India to Indonesia from 1981 - 1984 and Governor of Punjab and Administrator of
Chandigarh from 1990 - 1991.
The General was born in Srinagar, Kashmir, on August 6, 1922 and
received his schooling first at Model High School, Srinagar and later at SP
Higher Senior Secondary School, Srinagar. He attended Government College,
Lahore, before being selected to join the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun.
General Malhotra was commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery.
He commanded different Artillery Regiments between November 1950 and July 1961,
besides being an instructor at the Defence Service Staff College, Wellington.
He was the Military Attache at the Indian Embassy in Moscow for over three
years from June 1962.
He commanded an Artillery Brigade from August 1965 to January 1966 and
thereafter took over a Mountain Brigade. He commanded an Infantry Division and
was thereafter posted as the Chief of Staff in a Corps Headquarters in the
Eastern Sector in September 1969 till May 1972, when he took over a Corps in
the Western Sector. In 1974, General Malhotra was appointed General Officer
Commanding - in - chief Southern Command and in Jan 1977 as the Vice Chief of
the Army Staff. General OP Malhotra, assumed the office of the Chief of
the Army Staff in June 1978.
He was also the President of the Equestrian Federation of India for
nearly nine years. In 1994, the University of Jammu conferred the Degree of
Doctor of Letters (Honours Causa) upon him.
The General is survived by Mrs Saroj Malhotra and two children. His son,
Mr Ajai Malhotra was Ambassador of India to the Russian Federation, Kuwait,
Romania and Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations in
New York.
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