Kamal Davar

Lieutenant General Kamal Davar is a retired Indian military officer, and security expert who served as the first director general of the Defence Intelligence Agency and deputy chief of the Integrated Defence Staff.[1]

Retired lieutenant general

Kamal Davar
AllegianceIndia
RankLieutenant general
Battles/warsIndo-Pakistani War of 1965

Early life and education

The general officer is the son of renowned veteran freedom fighter and Indian National Congress leader, Dr MC Davar, a well-known pacifist who had fought to prevent the partition of India. Kamal Davar is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasala, and also holds an MSc in defence studies from Madras University, and a doctorate in security studies from Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut.[2]

Military career

Lt General Davar was commissioned into the 7th Light Cavalry regiment of the Indian Army. As a young officer, Davar participated in the 1965 India-Pakistan War, during which he was wounded in action in the Lahore sector. Subsequently, he also participated in active operations during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. He eventually rose to command the 86 Armoured Regiment of the Indian Army, and also to serve on the Indian Military Training Team in Iraq. As a brigadier, he commanded the spearhead armoured brigade of the Army and subsequently was an instructor at the College of Combat (now the Army War College) As a major general, Davar was sent, the first armoured corps officer to command 3 Div responsible for the entire Ladakh sector. After 2 eventful years, he was posted as chief of staff at the corps headquarters in Nagrota, Jammu and Kashmir during the height of counter-insurgency operations. He subsequently rose to become general officer commanding of an army corps in Punjab, in the rank of lieutenant general. After completion of command as GOC of a corps, he was appointed director-general, Mechanised Forces at Army Headquarters in 2001. On 5 March 2002, the government announced Davar's appointment as the first chief of The Defence Intelligence Agency(DIA) and Deputy Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff. As the first chief of the DIA, he is reputed to have taken many pioneering intelligence initiatives both at home and abroad.[3] General Davar has also served as the Colonel of the Regiment of 86 Armoured Regiment, as well as that of 74 Armoured Regiment.[4]

Family

Kamal Davar is the son of Dr M. C. Davar, a renowned freedom fighter and a well-known Congress leader. His family is well known in the nation for their nationalistic and secular fervour. A road in Delhi, Dr MC Davar Marg, named after his father, honours his memory.

Environmentalism

A keen environmentalist, Lt Gen Kamal Davar was the force behind the successful campaign to plant lakhs of trees in Punjab and clean the Harike Bird Sanctuary in Punjab. After retirement he continues his love for the environment exhorting local army units and schools to plant trees regularly. He is also an active and leading member of The SPOKE (Society for the Preservation of Kasauli and its Environs) and recently nominated as its president.[5]

Post retirement activities

Post retirement, the General has been writing regularly for the national media/military journals and has over a 100 published articles to his credit on security related, counter-terrorism and intelligence issues. He is also frequently called upon by various institutions, both in India and abroad, to address them on diverse security related and geo-political subjects.. Currently he is also the Convenor of the Strategic Studies Cell, a think tank based in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh in India. Gen Davar is also a member, from India, of the international High Level Military Group (HLMG) monitoring Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, along the West Bank and Israel-Lebanon border. Gen Davar is associated also with many security related think tanks besides being involved with important Track 2 Dialogues regards India-Pakistan affairs. Gen Davar has been recently nominated as the president of a new think tank established in the capital called The Delhi Forum For Strategic Studies (DFFSS). Gen Davar has recently published his debut book on the Pakistani Deep State captioned TRYST WITH PERFIDY. The book has received an overwhelming response both among military and civilian readers.

References
  1. Defence Intelligence Agency
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 21 February 2010. Retrieved 11 September 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 August 2012. Retrieved 11 September 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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