On 8 April 2005, the IISS hosted a Special Round Table Discussion with Lt. General V.G. Patankar (retd.), Former General-Officer Commanding (GOC), 15 Corps, Indian Army (Kashmir Valley). Lt General Patankar spoke on 'The Army's Initiative in Civic Actions in Kashmir.'
Lt. General Patankar assumed command of 15 Corps (HQs Srinagar) on January 1, 2002, and concurrently served as Security Adviser to the Jammu and Kashmir Government. During his tenure as Corps Commander, elections were held to the State Assembly in September-October 2002. In late 2003, General Patankar moved to Army HQs in New Delhi as Quarter Master General (QMG), from which he retired in February 2005.
During nearly 40 years of service in the Indian Army, General Patankar has held several other important command and staff appointments, including commander of a Mountain Brigade in the north-east and an Infantry Division along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir; as well as Director, Military Operations Directorate, and Additional Director General, Perspective Planning, at Army HQs. Having been commissioned into the regiment of artillery in June 1965, has seen active service in the 1965 and 1971 wars and the Kargil conflict (1999) with Pakistan.
General Patankar is a graduate of the Australian Joint Services Staff College, the higher command course at the Indian Army War College, and the US Army War College.
