Krishnaswamy Sundarji - The Senior General

The Senior General

It was about this time when India had tested its own Nuclear bomb. General Sundarji had long been an advocate of a nuclear policy, and now emerged as an articulate military spokesman for nuclear policy.

In 1984, he led Operation Bluestar, intended to evict Sikh extremists who had occupied the Golden temple in Amritsar. The Indian army marched into the gurudawara with their boots off. He was to later say - "We went inside with humility in our hearts and prayers on our lips". According to his wife, Sundarji emerged a changed man after this operation. This claim is, however, contested by the eyewitness accounts and other historians. As multiple sources speak of dead soldiers lying in the complex with Boots on.

In 1986, he was appointed the Chief of Army Staff. After taking over as the Army Chief, he wrote a letter to his soldiers warning of deteriorating standards, and the evil of sycophancy.

As army chief, his operations at Sumdorong Chu in 1986, known as Operation Falcon, has been widely praised. The Chinese had occupied Sumdorong Chu and Sundarji used the air force's new air-lift capability to land a brigade in Zimithang, north of Tawang. Indian forces took up positions on the Hathung La ridge, across the Namka Chu river, where India had faced a humiliating defeat in 1962. The Chinese responded with a counter-build-up and adopted a belligerent tone. Western diplomats predicted war and some of prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's advisers blamed Sundarji's recklessness. But Sundarji stood by his steps, at one point telling a senior aide, "Please make alternate arrangements if you think you are not getting adequate professional advice." The confrontation petered out.

He was also 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. The situation was defused through diplomatic talks in February 1987.