Shiva Kumar (general)

Kumar acted as second-in-command of UNAMIR until Major General Guy Tousignant of Canada's parting on December 8, 1995, when he assumed acting command until the mission's completion in March 1996. He oversaw 1,252 troops and military support personnel, 146 military observers, 56 United Nations Volunteers and approximately 160 international and 160 local civilian staff.^[1] The Indian army contingent under UNAMIR consisted of an Infantry Battalion 1/3 Gurkha Rifles, an Engineers company commanded by Maj B Pandey and a Signals company commanded by Maj AV Malhotra. Kumar was also the head of the Indian contingent.

In March, Kumar left Rwanda and flew to Nairobi, Kenya, with five bodyguards, stating to the media present, "We did a good job here under very difficult circumstances. I am proud of what the troops achieved."^[2]

In the autumn of 1998, he presented a scholastic paper entitled "The Role of Non-governmental Organizations (NGO), the Civil Society Living in the Area of the Peacekeeping Operations, and the Media in United Nations Peacekeeping Operations" at the first South Asian Peacekeeping Experience Seminar^[3] in Bangladesh.

In April 2004, he was posted as Chief Army Instructor at the Defence Services Staff College.

On July 1, 2006, took over as Chief of Staff for India's Eastern Command. He retired from this appointment on January 31, 2008.