Now Reading: Former Army Chief General VN Sharma passes away at 96
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Former Army Chief General VN Sharma passes away at 96
General Vishwa Nath Sharma, the 14th Chief of Army Staff of India, died on July 31, 2026. He was 96. Sharma belonged to one of India's most decorated military families: his elder…
General Vishwa Nath Sharma, the 14th Chief of Army Staff of India, died on July 31, 2026. He was 96. Sharma belonged to one of India's most decorated military families: his elder brother Major Som Nath Sharma was the first recipient of the Param Vir Chakra, and his father and other siblings also served in the armed forces.
Sharma was commissioned into the Armored Corps in 1948 after graduating from the Indian Military Academy. He served as COAS from May 1, 1988 to June 30, 1990. During his tenure, he oversaw the withdrawal of the Indian Peace Keeping Force from Sri Lanka in March 1990 and managed the army's supportive role in Punjab during the Khalistan insurgency.
After retirement, Sharma ran free tuberculosis clinics in Himachal Pradesh and was active in the Rashtriya Indian Military College old boys association. In 1997, he organised the largest contingent of alumni from Pakistan for the school's platinum jubilee.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Sharma's decision to join the Armored Corps despite his family's infantry and engineer tradition was rare for an officer from a military lineage. His command period saw two critical challenges: the IPKF withdrawal from Sri Lanka, which remains a case study in the limits of peacekeeping, and the Punjab insurgency, where he kept the army in a supportive role, a precedent later cited in internal security doctrine. The army's role in Jammu and Kashmir escalated only after his tenure. The next milestone for the RIMC alumni network he helped revive is its centenary in 2030, which may see another cross-border reunion.
Source: theprint.in
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
