Padmanabhan died in Chennai; the cause of death was old age. He was the Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan from September 30, 2000, to December 31, 2002.
Chennai: It is with deep sadness that we let you know that former Chief of Army Staff General Sundararajan Padmanabhan, referred to as ‘Paddy’ in the army, died in Chennai from old age, according to a source who was close to him on Monday.
He was 83. He was also the Chief of Army Staff for the period between September 30, 2000, and December 31, 2002.
He was commanding an Independent Artillery Brigade and a Mountain Brigade before joining the NDC course at Delhi.
He was decorated with the ‘Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM)’ for his services as a 15 Corps Commander.
General Padmanabhan was born on December 5, 1940, in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, and was passed out of Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehra Dun, and the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla, in Pune.
After passing out of the Indian Military Academy (IMA), he was commissioned as second lieutenant in the Regiment of Artillery on 13 December 1959.
It stated that he has several prestigious command, staff, and instructional postings, besides having personal participation in many operations, the defense release concluded.
He passed out from the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) at Wellington in 1973 and the National Defence College (NDC) at New Delhi. He was commanding an independent light battery from August 75 to July 76 and the Gazala Mountain Regiment from September 77 to March 80.
This is one of the oldest mountain artillery regiments of the Indian Army and has fought in several wars.
