Sureesh Mehta

Admiral
Sureesh Mehta
PVSM, AVSM
Admiral Sureesh Mehta PVSM, AVSM
	Sureesh Mehta interacting with the media on the eve of the Navy Day 2007, in New Delhi
15th Indian High Commissioner to New Zealand
	In office; December 2009 – December 2011
Appointed by	President of India (then, Pratibha Patil)
Preceded by	K. P. Ernest
Succeeded by	Avanindra K. Pandey
48th Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee
	In office; 30 September 2007 – 31 August 2009
President	Pratibha Patil
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Preceded by	Joginder Jaswant Singh
Succeeded by	Deepak Kapoor
19th Chief of the Naval Staff (India)
	In office; 31 October 2006 – 31 August 2009
President	A. P. J. Abdul Kalam; Pratibha Patil
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Preceded by	Arun Prakash
Succeeded by	Nirmal Kumar Verma
Personal details
Born	18 August 1947 (age 77)
Spouse	Maria Teresa Mehta
Military service
Allegiance	India
Branch/service	Indian Navy; Indian Coast Guard
Years of service	1967 – 2009
Rank	Admiral
Unit	Indian Naval Air Arm
Commands	Eastern Naval Command; Western Fleet
Battles/wars	Indo-Pakistani War of 1971; Operation Lal Dora; Kargil War
Award(s)	Param Vishist Seva Medal; Ati Vishist Seva Medal; Sangram Medal;

Admiral Sureesh Mehta, PVSM, AVSM (born August 18, 1947) served as 19th Chief of the Indian Navy from 31 October 2006 until 31 August 2009. He was succeeded by Nirmal Kumar Verma. He is the first service chief from India's armed forces to be born post Indian Independence. He is married to Maria Teresa Mehta and they have two children.

Early life

Admiral Mehta was born on 18 August 1947 at Gurdaspur, Punjab. He studied in the National Defence Academy before joining the Indian Navy. Later, he also graduated from the Defence Services Staff College and the National Defence College.^{[citation needed]}

Military career

After graduating, Admiral Mehta joined the Fleet Air Arm of the Indian Navy, where he flew the Hawker Sea Hawk off the aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant. He was the Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet during the Kargil War. Later, he served as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) of the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) from 30 September 2005 till his appointment as the Naval Chief. He was appointed the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) on 28 September 2007.

Awards and distinctions

In 1995, Admiral Mehta was awarded the Ati Vishist Seva Medal. In 2005, he received the Param Vishist Seva Medal.

High Commissioner to New Zealand

After retirement, the Indian government appointed him as India's High Commissioner to New Zealand.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Awards and decorations

Param Vishisht Seva Medal	Ati Vishisht Seva Medal	Samar Seva Star	Poorvi Star
Paschimi Star	Operation Vijay Medal	Special Service Medal	Sangram Medal
Meritorious Service Medal	Videsh Seva Medal	50th Independence Anniversary Medal	25th Independence Anniversary Medal
30 Years Long Service Medal	20 Years Long Service Medal		9 Years Long Service Medal

References

^ "Admiral Sureesh Mehta is new envoy to New Zealand - Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
^ "Indian High Commissioner in Lower Hutt". 26 January 2010.
^ "India warns of fallout over race slurs". 8 October 2010.

http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NAVY/Navy-Chiefs/Chiefs-Navy21.html

Military offices
Preceded by Joginder Jaswant Singh	Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee 2007- 31 August 2009	Succeeded by Deepak Kapoor
Preceded by Arun Prakash	Chief of the Naval Staff 2006–2009	Succeeded by Nirmal Kumar Verma
Preceded by O P Bansal	Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command 2005-2006	Succeeded by A K Singh
Preceded by O. P. Bansal	Director General of the Indian Coast Guard 2003 - 2004	Succeeded by A. K. Singh
Preceded by Madanjit Singh	Chief of Personnel 2002-2003	Succeeded by Yashwant Prasad
Preceded by Yashwant Prasad	Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet 1998-2000	Succeeded by S S Byce
Preceded by Vinod Pasricha	Flag Officer Goa Area & Flag Officer Naval Aviation 1995 - 1997	Succeeded by K. V. Bharathan

[1] "Admiral Sureesh Mehta is new envoy to New Zealand - Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2022.

[2] "Indian High Commissioner in Lower Hutt". 26 January 2010.

[3] "India warns of fallout over race slurs". 8 October 2010.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Chief of Defence Staff of the Indian Armed Forces
Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (1947–2019)	Sir Rob Lockhart Sir Thomas Elmhirst Sir Edward Parry K. M. Cariappa Sir Charles Pizey Subroto Mukerjee Kodandera Subayya Thimayya Ram Dass Katari Aspy Engineer Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman Jayanto Nath Chaudhuri Arjan Singh Adhar Kumar Chatterji Sam Manekshaw Gopal Gurunath Bewoor Om Prakash Mehra Sourendra Nath Kohli Tapishwar Narain Raina Hrushikesh Moolgavkar Jal Cursetji Om Prakash Malhotra Idris Hasan Latif Ronald Lynsdale Pereira K. V. Krishna Rao Dilbagh Singh Oscar Stanley Dawson Arun Shridhar Vaidya Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani Denis La Fontaine Jayant Ganpat Nadkarni Surinder Mehra Sunith Francis Rodrigues Laxminarayan Ramdas Bipin Chandra Joshi S. K. Kaul Vijai Singh Shekhawat Shankar Roychowdhury Satish Sareen Ved Prakash Malik Sushil Kumar Sundararajan Padmanabhan Madhvendra Singh Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy Nirmal Chander Vij Arun Prakash Shashindra Pal Tyagi Joginder Jaswant Singh Sureesh Mehta Deepak Kapoor Pradeep Vasant Naik Nirmal Kumar Verma Norman Anil Kumar Browne Bikram Singh Arup Raha Sunil Lanba Birender Singh Dhanoa Bipin Rawat
Chief of Defence Staff and Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (2020–2021)	Bipin Rawat
Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (2021–2022)	M. M. Naravane (acting)
Chief of Defence Staff and Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (2022–)	Anil Chauhan
(**Seconded from the British Armed Forces)

v t e Chief of the Naval Staff of the Indian Navy
Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy (1947–1948)	John Talbot Savignac Hall**
Chief of the Naval Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Royal Indian Navy (1948-1950)	John Talbot Savignac Hall Edward Parry
Chief of the Naval Staff and Commander-in-Chief, Indian Navy (1950-1955)	Edward Parry Sir Charles Thomas Mark Pizey
Chief of the Naval Staff (1955–present)	Sir Charles Thomas Mark Pizey Sir Stephen Hope Carlill Ram Dass Katari Bhaskar Sadashiv Soman Adhar Kumar Chatterji Sardarilal Mathradas Nanda Sourendra Nath Kohli Jal Cursetji Ronald Lynsdale Pereira Oscar Stanley Dawson Radhakrishna Hariram Tahiliani Jayant Ganpat Nadkarni Laxminarayan Ramdas Vijai Singh Shekhawat Vishnu Bhagwat Sushil Kumar Madhvendra Singh Arun Prakash Sureesh Mehta Nirmal Kumar Verma Devendra Kumar Joshi Robin K. Dhowan Sunil Lanba Karambir Singh R. Hari Kumar Dinesh Kumar Tripathi (incumbent)
**Seconded from the Royal Navy