General Om Prakash Malhotra PVSM was the 13th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army.
Commissioned in the Regiment of Artillery in November 1941, General Malhotra fought against the Japanese in the Second World War in Burma. He commanded artillery regiments across India between November 1950 and July 1961, served as an instructor at the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, and was the Military and Naval Attaché at the Embassy of India in Moscow from 1962-1965. From August 1965 to January 1966, General Malhotra commanded an Artillery Brigade and then a Mountain Brigade in north-east India. He was promoted to Major General in September 1967 and commanded 36th Infantry Division in Saugor for two years. From September 1969 till May 1972 he was GOC, 4 Corps, in the Eastern Sector. Subsequently, he commanded XI Corps in Jullunder for two years and was later the GOC-in-C Southern Command located at Pune. In 1976, General Malhotra was awarded the Param Vishist Seva Medal for "service of the most exceptional order". He was Vice Chief of Army Staff before taking over as Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army on 31 May 1978 and serving in that post for three years.
After retiring from the Indian Army on 31 May 1981, General Malhotra served as the Ambassador of India to Indonesia from 1981-1984. During 1990-1991 General Malhotra was appointed the Governor of the Indian State of Punjab[1] when militancy in that state was at its height. He resigned upon the cancellation of elections in Punjab.
A keen sportsman, General Malhotra was for many years the President of the Equestrian Federation of India and the Founder President of the Asian Equestrian Federation. He has also been the President of the Delhi Golf Club, New Delhi. Besides serving as a Trustee of the Nehru Trust for the Indian Collections at the Victoria & Albert Museum, he has served as the President of India's largest NGO, the "National Association for the Blind" in New Delhi and is an active member of Kiwanis International in India. He is presently the Chairman of two charitable organizations Shiksha, and Chikitsa.