Lieutenant General Abhijit S Pendharkar, is a senior officer of the Indian Army currently serving as the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) of India. He previously commanded 3 Corps, also known as the Spear Corps, the largest operational formation of the Indian Army, headquartered at Dimapur, Nagaland. He was commissioned into the Assam Regiment in June 1990 and has served in an illustrious military career spanning over 35 years.
Commissioned into the Assam Regiment on 9 June 1990 from the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, Pendharkar is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, and the National Defence College, New Delhi. In a career spanning over 34 years, he has served in varied command, staff, and instructional appointments across diverse operational environments in India and overseas, including counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and Northeast India, and a UN peacekeeping stint with MONUSCO in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He is a recipient of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and the Yudh Seva Medal.
Early life and education
Pendharkar received his pre-commissioning training at the National Defence Academy (NDA), Khadakwasla, and was commissioned on 9 June 1990 from the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehradun, into the 6th Battalion of the Assam Regiment.