Marshal of Indian Air Force Arjan Singh, died yesterday aged 98.
He was earlier in the day admitted to Army Hospital here after he suffered a heart attack.
The end came at 7.47pm, a defence official said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the three service chiefs had earlier visited the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where he was undergoing treatment.
Modi said India will never forget Singh’s “excellent leadership” in the 1965 war with Pakistan.
“India mourns the unfortunate demise of Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh. We remember his outstanding service to the nation. India will never forget the excellent leadership of Marshal of the IAF Arjan Singh in 1965, when the IAF saw substantial action,” Modi said in a series of tweets.
Modi also remembered the late Marshal’s “soldier discipline”, saying that despite his ill health, Singh tried to get up to salute the prime minister when he met him some time back.
“Arjan Singh’s determined focus on capacity building in the IAF added great strength to our defence capabilities. My thoughts are with his family and those mourning the demise of a distinguished air warrior and fine human, Marshal of the IAF Arjan Singh,” Modi said.
Singh was hardly 44 when he took over as the chief of a young IAF in 1964.
In recognition of his services, he was conferred the rank of the Marshal of the Air Force in January 2002, thus becoming the first and the only “Five Star” rank officer with the IAF.
In his many firsts, one was leading the fly-past over the Red Fort on August 15, 1947 – on the morning of the day India got independence.
Interestingly, the man almost got himself court-martialled in 1945 during World War II.
According to an account by a retired IAF officer, Singh, then a fighter pilot, went on a routine sortie with a corporal in Kerala. He flew very low over the houses that were said to be that of the corporal and his relatives.