Ravi Datt Mehta

Early life and military career The Indian Express states that he was a math wizard in his younger days. He joined the Indian Army in 1976 and went on to become a highly rated officer. His selection as defence attaché in Kabul is said to have followed an intensive screening process that shortlists the candidate pool to unofficially the "top three" officers of the Indian Army, prior to making the final selection for the job.

He had proficiency in many languages, including Pashto, Mandarin and Tibetan. His work as defence attaché in Kabul was praised in both Indian media and Pakistani media. In the words of a columnist for Dawn, he was: "an affable defence attaché who was popular with Indian expatriates and local Afghans alike."

It is speculated that he was targeted, allegedly by the Taliban and its state-run de facto intelligence service, Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), due to his close monitoring of the re-established links between those two organizations, and due to his significant role in training the Afghan army. India's second-highest peacetime gallantry award. His funeral was attended by Chief of Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Suresh Mehta and Chief of the Air Staff Fali Homi Major.

Brigadier Mehta's wife was also working in Afghanistan for empowerment of women during his stay there. Brigadier Mehta has a son who was then serving in the Indian Air Force as a fighter pilot.

Kirti Chakra Citation The Kirti Chakra citation on the Official Indian Army Website reads as follows: