New Delhi: Former Chief of Army Staff General Vishwa Nath Sharma (Retd) was laid to rest with full military honours at a cremation ground in Delhi Cantonment area Saturday, day after he died at the age of 97.
The first President’s commissioned officer to become the Army chief, General Sharma had an illustrious military career. He was commissioned into the Armoured Corps’ 16th Light Cavalry, and led the Indian Army through a period of turbulence marked by insurgency in Punjab and deployment of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka. He served as the 14th Chief of Army Staff from 1 May 1988 to 30 June 1990.The three service chiefs—General Dhiraj Seth, Admiral Krishna Swaminathan and Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh—paid tribute to General Sharma at the cremation.
Also in attendance were former Army chiefs—General J.J. Singh (Retd), General Deepak Kapoor (Retd), General Dalbir Singh Suhag (Retd), General M.M. Naravane (Retd), General Upendra Dwivedi (Retd), and General V.K. Singh (Retd)—and former Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan (Retd). Former Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Nirmal Suri (Retd) and Lieutenant General Ajay Ramdev, Director General Integrated Training, were also present.The 17-gun salute | Harini TS | ThePrint
