3rd General Sundarji Memorial Lecture

April 7, 2023

On the 8th of February 1999, India lost one of its foremost military thinkers, General K Sundarji. He was the 13th Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army from 1986 to 1988 and introduced a number of technology initiatives during his tenure. To commemorate his memory, the Indian Army organised the 3rd General Sundarji Memorial Lecture at the Manekshaw Centre, Delhi, on the 3rd of April 2023.

Organisation of the 3rd General Sundarji Memorial Lecture

The Indian Army organized the third edition of the General Sundarji Memorial Lecture under the aegis of Mechanised Infantry Centre & School (MIC&S) and Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS). The latter is an autonomous think tank on strategic studies and land warfare that focuses national security issues, conventional military operations, and sub-conventional warfare. The mandate of CLAWS is to convey policy recommendations based on interactions, consensus, and research projects to policymakers and experts.

General K Sundarji: His Legacy and Controversies

General K Sundarji is also known as the ‘Father of the Mechanised Infantry Regiment’. During his army career, he commanded Operation Blue Star under orders from former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to clear the Golden Temple shrine. Widely respected as a scholar warrior, he was regarded as one of the most promising generals of Independent India.

However, General K Sundarji was also questioned for his role in recommending the Bofors howitzer in the Bofors scandal. As the Chief of the Army Staff, he planned and executed Operation Brasstacks, a major military exercise along the Rajasthan border.

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