Who is General Ashok K. Mehta?

(November, 03, New Delhi, Sri Lanka Guardian) Gen Ashok K Mehta was commissioned in the 5th Gorkha Rifles in 1957. He took part in all the military operations undertaken by India except the 1947 war in Jammu and Kashmir and the 1962 China war when he was on a peacekeeping mission in Congo (Zaire) in 1962. He did courses at Fort Leavenworth (US) in 1975 and the Royal College of Defence Studies in UK in 1974. He is a founder member of the Defence Planning Staff, now the Integrated Defence Staff, of the Chiefs of Staff Committee. His last assignment was General Officer Commanding, Indian Peace Keeping Forces (IPKF) South, in Sri Lanka.

Since 1991, after taking premature retirement, he has been a regular radio and television commentator and columnist on defence and security issues. He has been consulting editor, Indian Defence Review, Member, Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis, and Director, Security and Political Risk Analysis. For the last four years, he has been anchoring a regular television panel discussion on security issues called DefenceWatch.

He is a regular participant on the international and regional seminar circuit.He is the convenor of three peace processes: India-Nepal, India-Pakistan and India-Srilanka.

He has authored a book “War Despatches: Operation Iraqi Freedom” and another on “The Maoist Insurgency in Nepal and the Royal Nepal Army”. He is currently working on “Operation Parakram: The Military Standoff of 2002”.

Await an exclusive interview with General Mehta with Sri Lanka Guardian.