Kamal Davar

Davar is the son of veteran freedom fighter and Indian National Congress leader, Dr. M.C. Davar, a pacifist who fought to prevent the partition of India. Kamal Davar was an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakvasala, and also holds an MSc in defense studies from Madras University and a doctorate in security studies from Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut. ^[2][3]

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 86th 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 armored 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 as the first armored corps officer to command three divisions responsible for the entire Ladakh sector. After two 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 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, Mechanized Forces, at Army Headquarters in 2001. On March 5, 2002, the government announced Davar's appointment as the first chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and Deputy Chief of the Integrated Defense Staff. As the first chief of the DIA, he is reputed to have taken many pioneering intelligence initiatives both at home and abroad. ^[4] General Davar has also served as the Colonel of the Regiment of the 86 Armored Regiment, as well as that of the 74th Armoured Regiment. ^[5]