Former army chief Malhotra dies at 93

Former army chief General Om Prakash Malhotra died yesterday at the age of 93, an official statement said.Malhotra who was the 13th chief of the Indian Army (1978-1981), was also India’s ambassador to Indonesia during 1981-1984 and governor of Punjab and administrator of Chandigarh during 1990-1991.The general is survived by his wife Saroj Malhotra and two children. His son Ajai Malhotra was Indian ambassador to Russia, Kuwait, Romania and Deputy Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations in New York.Born in Srinagar, on August 6, 1922, Malhotra initially went to the city’s Model High School and later at the S P Higher Senior Secondary School in the same city.He attended the Government College in Lahore, before qualifying for the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun and was commissioned in the Regiment of Artillery in 1941.Malhotra saw action against the Japanese front during World War II.He served in and commanded artillery regiments across India between November 1950 and July 1961, served as an instructor at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, and was the Military and Naval Attache at the Indian embassy in Moscow from 1962-1965.From August 1965 to January 1966, General Malhotra commanded an artillery brigade and then a mountain brigade in northeast India.