Ved Prakash Malik

General Ved Prakash Malik PVSM, AVSM

Born	(1939-11-01) 1 November 1939
Allegiance	India
Service/branch	Indian Army
Years of service	1959 - 2000
Rank	General
Unit	Sikh Light Infantry
Commands held	Southern Army
Battles/wars	Kargil War
Awards	Param Vishisht Seva Medal Ati Vishisht Seva Medal

General Ved Prakash Malik PVSM, AVSM (born 1 November 1939) served as the 19th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army from 30 September 1997 till 30 September 2000.^[1] He was the Army Chief during the Kargil War.^[2]

Military career

General Malik was born on 1st Nov 1939 in Dera Ismail Khan, North West Frontier Province, British India (now in Pakistan). An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and the Indian Military Academy , Dehradun, Gen. Malik was commissioned into 3 SIKH LI on 7th Jun 1959. He commanded an Infantry Brigade in Jammu and Kashmir where he was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM).

In Dec 1989, he was appointed GOC of a Mountain Division and in Aug 1992, he assumed command of a Corps in Punjab, where he oversaw anti-militancy operations in the state.

In Jul 1995, he was appointed GOC-in-C of Southern Command before moving to Army Headquarters as Vice Chief of Army Staff in August 1996. He was decorated with the Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) in 1996.

He assumed the charge of Indian Army as the 19th Chief of Army Staff on 1st Oct 1997. Concurrently with the appointment, he took over as Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee of India with effect from 1st Jan 1999. He coordinated and oversaw the planning and execution of Operation Vijay to successfully defeat Pakistan's attempted intrusion in Kargil sector during May to Jul 1999.

He was felicitated with the 'Excellence in Leadership' award by the Atur Foundation, Pune and also the `Distinguished Fellowship' of the Institute of Directors, New Delhi in 1999. The Doon Citizens' Council gave him the 'Pride of the Nation' award in Jul 2000. He was Colonel of the Sikh Light Infantry from 1990 to 1998, and continues to be Honorary Colonel of the Regiment for life.

General V P Malik retired on 30th Sep 2000, and has settled in Panchkula, near Chandigarh.

Honours and decorations

	Param Vishisht Seva Medal	Ati Vishisht Seva Medal
Samanya Seva Medal	Poorvi Star	Special Service Medal	Raksha Medal
Sangram Medal	Sainya Seva Medal	High Altitude Service Medal	50th Anniversary of Independence Medal
25th Anniversary of Independence Medal	30 Years Long Service Medal	20 Years Long Service Medal	9 Years Long Service Medal

References

↑ "Wait and watch then talk with Pak, says Gen Malik". Indian Express. 13 November 1999. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
↑ Abidi, S. Sartaj Alam; Sharma, Satinder (2007). Services chiefs of India. Northern Book Centre. pp. 84–85. Retrieved 9 July 2011.

External links

Military offices
Preceded by Shankar Roychowdhury	Chief of Army Staff 1997–2000	Succeeded by Sundararajan Padmanabhan

Chief of the Army Staff (India)

Commander-in-Chief, Indian Army (1947–1955)	Rob Lockhart Roy Bucher Kodandera M. Cariappa Rajendrasinhji Jadeja

Chief of the Army Staff (1955–present)	Rajendrasinhji Jadeja S. M. Shrinagesh Kodandera Subayya Thimayya Pran Nath Thapar Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri Paramasiva Prabhakar Kumaramangalam Sam Manekshaw Gopal Gurunath Bewoor Tapishwar Narain Raina Om Prakash Malhotra K. V. Krishna Rao Arun Shridhar Vaidya Krishnaswamy Sundarji Vishwa Nath Sharma Sunith Francis Rodrigues Bipin Chandra Joshi Shankar Roychowdhury Ved Prakash Malik Sundararajan Padmanabhan Nirmal Chander Vij Joginder Jaswant Singh Deepak Kapoor Vijay Kumar Singh Bikram Singh Dalbir Singh Bipin Rawat (designate)

(**Seconded from the British Army)

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