Maj Gen Ashok Krishna, AVSM was commissioned into 4/8 Gorkha Rifles in 1957 and he commanded the battalion in the 1971 war in the western sector. In 1974 he commanded 1/8 Gorkha Rifles, now 3 Mechanised Infantry. In 1988, he was appointed Colonel 8 Gorkha Rifles.He has commanded a brigade actively engaged in counter-insurgency operations and a division in high altitude. He has held various staff appointments including in the Military Operations Directorate, Army Headquarters. He was Commander, Higher Command Wing, College of Combat, Mhow at the time of his retirement in 1994. Thereafter, he was with the Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses as Senior Fellow, and in 1999 he joined the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies as Deputy Director.He has written several articles on Insurgency and Terrorism and he has authored a book India's Armed Forces: Fifty Years of War and Peace.P.R. Chari was former civil servant, has published several monographs and papers in academic journals in India and abroad. His books include: Perspectives on National Security in South Asia: In Search of New Paradigm (1999), India: Towards Millennium (1998), Nuclear Proliferation in South Asia: South Asian Perspectives (1996), Brasstacks and Beyond: Perception and Management of Crisis in South Asia (1995) and Indo-Pak Nuclear Standoff: the Role of the United States (1995).He passed away on 24 July 2015.
