1. Krishnaswamy Sundarji was the last former British Indian Army officer to command the Indian Army.
23 Facts About Krishnaswamy Sundarji
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Krishnaswamy Sundarji introduced a number of technology initiatives to the Indian Army.
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Krishnaswamy Sundarji was questioned for his role in recommending the Bofors howitzer in the Bofors scandal.
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Krishnaswamy Sundarji studied at the Madras Christian College only to leave it before receiving a degree.
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Krishnaswamy Sundarji studied at the Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth in the US, and the National Defence College in New Delhi.
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Krishnaswamy Sundarji held a Master of Arts in international studies from the University of Allahabad and an MSc in defence studies from Madras University.
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Krishnaswamy Sundarji joined the British Indian Army in 1945 during the Second World War, though the war ended before he could see any active service.
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Krishnaswamy Sundarji served as the commanding officer of an infantry battalion during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.
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Krishnaswamy Sundarji played an important role as brigadier general staff of a corps in the Rangpur sector of Bangladesh, during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.
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Krishnaswamy Sundarji was promoted to major general on 26 July 1974.
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Krishnaswamy Sundarji raised the Mechanised Infantry Regiment by amalgamating various battalions from the army's premier infantry regiments.
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Krishnaswamy Sundarji was promoted to lieutenant general on 5 February 1979.
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Krishnaswamy Sundarji later said "We went inside with humility in our hearts and prayers on our lips".
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The Chinese had occupied Sumdorong Chu, and Krishnaswamy Sundarji used the Indian Air Force's new airlift capability to land a brigade in Zimithang, north of Tawang.
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Krishnaswamy Sundarji was involved in Operation Brasstacks, a large-scale mechanised artillery and war gaming effort in July 1986 near the Pakistan border, which led to similar Pakistani buildup.
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Krishnaswamy Sundarji was amongst the core team that created Indian nuclear policy.
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Krishnaswamy Sundarji was amongst the most far-sighted armoured corps commanders in the Indian Army.
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Krishnaswamy Sundarji pioneered various operational guidelines and challenged his commanders to push the machines and men to the limits.
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Krishnaswamy Sundarji then went on to create the Mechanised Infantry Regiment.
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Krishnaswamy Sundarji can be credited for shaping modern Indian Army thinking.
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Krishnaswamy Sundarji was one of the few to predict the total rout of the Iraqi forces in the Gulf War.
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Krishnaswamy Sundarji left behind a partially completed autobiography titled Of Some Consequence: A Soldier Remembers, of which he had completed 33 episodes out of a planned 105.
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In January 1998, Krishnaswamy Sundarji was diagnosed with motor neuron disease, from which he died on 8 February 1999 at the age of 70.