Will General Bipin Rawat go down as one of the greatest generals of Indian Army?

pmaitra

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Gen. K. S. Thimayya
FM Sam Maneckshaw
Gen. Kariappa
Lt. Gen. Harbaksh Singh
Gen. J. N. Chowdhury
Lt. Gen. J. S. Arora
Gen. V. P. Malik
Maj. Gen. Candeth

I will add the person who ordered the troops in Ladakh correctly anticipating a PLA offensive thus giving enough time to the troops to acclimatize. I do not recall his name.

These are the persons (not in any particular order) who, IMHO, will go down as the greatest generals in the history of independent India. The current general's achievements are insignificant compared to these predecessors before.

Lt. Gen. Kaul will go down as the worst.
 
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indiatester

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Gen. K. S. Thimayya
FM Sam Maneckshaw
Gen. Kariappa
Lt. Gen. Harbaksh Singh
Gen. J. N. Chowdhury
Lt. Gen. J. S. Arora
Gen. V P Malik
Maj. Gen. Candeth

These are the persons (not in any particular order) who, IMHO, will go down as the greatest generals in the history of independent India. The current general's achievements are insignificant compared to these predecessors before.

Lt. Gen. Kaul will go down as the worst.
Why Gen. V P Malik here? I don't like a few aspects about what happened during Kargil.
1) They underestimated the strength of the enemy and got clobbered with half hearted attempts
2) They did not impress upon the govt on why a large tactical liberty was required to cross LOC
3) I believe he was not forceful enough to ensure a more brutal offensive that would have saved a lot more soldiers lives.
 

pmaitra

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Why Gen. V P Malik here? I don't like a few aspects about what happened during Kargil.
1) They underestimated the strength of the enemy and got clobbered with half hearted attempts
2) They did not impress upon the govt on why a large tactical liberty was required to cross LOC
3) I believe he was not forceful enough to ensure a more brutal offensive that would have saved a lot more soldiers lives.
I agree with the points you made. The reason I included him is because this was the only major conflict after both countries demonstrably acquired nukes.
 

Mikesingh

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Gen. K. S. Thimayya
FM Sam Maneckshaw
Gen. Kariappa
Lt. Gen. Harbaksh Singh
Gen. J. N. Chowdhury
Lt. Gen. J. S. Arora
Gen. V. P. Malik
Maj. Gen. Candeth

I will add the person who ordered the troops in Ladakh correctly anticipating a PLA offensive thus giving enough time to the troops to acclimatize. I do not recall his name.

These are the persons (not in any particular order) who, IMHO, will go down as the greatest generals in the history of independent India. The current general's achievements are insignificant compared to these predecessors before.

Lt. Gen. Kaul will go down as the worst.
One of the greatest Generals you forgot to mention was Gen JFR Jacob who was instrumental in forcing Gen Niazi of the Paki Army in then East Pakistan to agree to sign the surrender document in Dhaka.

His brilliant plan was to bypass intermediary towns altogether, neutralize Pakistan's command and communication infrastructure, and use secondary routes to reach Dhaka. Gen Jacob's plan was eventually approved by the Eastern Command which resulted in the capture of Dhaka in quick time.

I don't think much of Gen VP Malik. He was to go home as a Lt Col but managed to reach the exalted rank of Chief! As to his lackluster performance @indiatester brought out some important facts in his post above (#27). There are more but let's not dig out skeletons from the grave.
 
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Butter Chicken

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I think your question will be properly answered by next year....(if you know what I mean)
 

IndiaRising

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Gen. K. S. Thimayya
FM Sam Maneckshaw
Gen. Kariappa
Lt. Gen. Harbaksh Singh
Gen. J. N. Chowdhury
Lt. Gen. J. S. Arora
Gen. V. P. Malik
Maj. Gen. Candeth

I will add the person who ordered the troops in Ladakh correctly anticipating a PLA offensive thus giving enough time to the troops to acclimatize. I do not recall his name.

These are the persons (not in any particular order) who, IMHO, will go down as the greatest generals in the history of independent India. The current general's achievements are insignificant compared to these predecessors before.

Lt. Gen. Kaul will go down as the worst.
Give general rawat some time. I'm sure by the end of his tenure, you will agree with me
 

Butter Chicken

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taking back pok by only armed forces is very hard due to its geography..... meens its very easy to get Lahore or Karachi then pok
de-nuking Pakistan first with help from Unkil and then invading from Punjab as well as Balochistan will force Pakjabi state to surrender and give up PoK.
 

thethinker

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One of the greatest Generals you forgot to mention was Gen JFR Jacob who was instrumental in forcing Gen Niazi of the Paki Army in then East Pakistan to agree to sign the surrender document in Dhaka.

His brilliant plan was to bypass intermediary towns altogether, neutralize Pakistan's command and communication infrastructure, and use secondary routes to reach Dhaka. Gen Jacob's plan was eventually approved by the Eastern Command which resulted in the capture of Dhaka in quick time.
Pakis had fortified their towns with heavy armory and were expecting to decimate Indians as soon as they reached there.

The astute Gen. Jacob who had lived for a while in Dhaka realized that Dhaka is the center of gravity and it will be a folly to walk in the trap laid by Pakis.

So as the mard-e-momins waited in the towns, IA ignored these sectors and plowed through Dhaka and captured it.

Later during surrender, one Paki soldier remarked to Gen.Jacob that if Paki soldiers ever had a competent leadership like that of IA generals, no force could defeat them. :)

So for all the false bravado that Paki high command displays, whenever things get dicey, they always crumble like a pack of cards.

Be it Niazi in 1971 or Musharraf in Kargil.
 

Suryavanshi

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All of us foaming over Paki Denuclearization likes there is a possibility of it Happening :dude:
 

pmaitra

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One of the greatest Generals you forgot to mention was Gen JFR Jacob who was instrumental in forcing Gen Niazi of the Paki Army in then East Pakistan to agree to sign the surrender document in Dhaka.

His brilliant plan was to bypass intermediary towns altogether, neutralize Pakistan's command and communication infrastructure, and use secondary routes to reach Dhaka. Gen Jacob's plan was eventually approved by the Eastern Command which resulted in the capture of Dhaka in quick time.

I don't think much of Gen VP Malik. He was to go home as a Lt Col but managed to reach the exalted rank of Chief! As to his lackluster performance @indiatester brought out some important facts in his post above (#27). There are more but let's not dig out skeletons from the grave.
Yes, you are correct. Gen. Jacob should be in that list.

There is another person who acted even before Gen. Jacob. Gen. Jacob acted after getting approval. Brigadier Sant Singh acted before getting approval. He violated a few basic principles that he was taught in the military and came out with flying colours.
 

Screambowl

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Gen who has seen wars and those who have motivated the army are the best ones. I will only mention the ones of this era, past 1 decade.

Gen VK singh is one of my era for his bold moves and robust actions. Modifying the army. Reducing the political influence and bringing politicians under discipline asking them to behave.

and other one is the gen Rawat who had guts to warn kashmiri locals that behave or be ready to face the bullet. Thus motivating the army by backing their actions.and making the army confident in 2.5 front war. Giving a bloody nose to the chinese in doklam.
 

shankyz

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”Sarhad ke us paar jo atankwadi hain, wo taiyaar baithe hain. Hum bhi unke liye iss taraf taiyaar baithe hain. Woh (terrorists) idhar aayenge, hum unko receive karke, dhai foot jameen ke neeche bhejte rahenge.” - Gen. Rawat

Translation:
Cross-border terrorists are ready. We are also ready for them. Let them come here, we will receive them and send them 2.5 feet below the ground.
 

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