Former Chief of Army Staff General Sundararajan Padmanabhan, affectionately known as "Paddy" in army circles, passed away due to old age at his residence here, a source close to him said on Monday. He was 83. He served as the Chief of Army Staff from September 30, 2000 to 31 December 31, 2002.

General Padmanabhan is survived by wife, daughter and a son. His children will be arriving from the US tonight. The funeral will be held tomorrow evening. General Padmanabhan commanded an Independent Artillery Brigade and a Mountain Brigade before attending the prestigious NDC course at Delhi. He was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) for his services as the 15 Corps Commander.

Born in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, on December 5, 1940, General Padmanabhan was an alumnus of the prestigious Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehra Dun, and the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla in Pune. He was commissioned into the Regiment of Artillery after graduating from the Indian Military Academy (IMA) on December 13, 1959.

His illustrious career included several prestigious command, staff and instructional postings, besides having participated in numerous operations, a Defence release here said. A graduate of the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) at Wellington in 1973 and the National Defence College (NDC) at New Delhi, he commanded an Independent Light Battery from August 1975 to July 1976 and later on commanded the Gazala Mountain Regiment from September 1977 to March 1980.

This mountain regiment is one of the oldest artillery regiments of the Indian Army and has participated in several wars. He served as Instructor Gunnery at the School of Artillery in Deolali, been a Brigade Major of an infantry brigade on its raising and served as Colonel General Staff of a Mountain Division from January 1983 to May 1985, where he was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM).

He has also spent two tenures as an instructor at the IMA. He commanded an Infantry Brigade from December 1988 to February 1991 at Ranchi, Bihar and Punjab and was then appointed as the General Officer Commanding of an Infantry Division in Punjab from March 1991 to August 1992. He served as Chief of Staff, 3 Corps from September 1992 to June 1993.

After his promotion to Lieutenant General, he was commander of the 15 Corps in the Kashmir valley from July 1993 to February 1995. It was during his tenure as the 15 Corps Commander, that the Army made big gains over the militants in Kashmir and could even scale down its operations. General Padmanabhan held the appointment of Director General Military Intelligence (DGMI) after the successful culmination of which, he took over as the GOC of the Northern Command at Udhampur on September 1, 1996. Before being appointed as the Chief of Army Staff, he was the GOC of Southern Command.

He retired on December 31, 2002, after completing more than 43 years of distinguished military service. Paying his tributes, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said he was deeply saddened by the passing away of former Chief of Army Staff, General S Padmanabhan. "His exemplary leadership and unwavering dedication to our nation's security will always be remembered," the CM said in a post on X. Stalin conveyed his heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi paid tributes to the mortal remains of the former Army Chief at his residence in Adyar here.

(With Inputs From Agencies)