Bansi Ponnappa

Lieutenant General Channira Bansi Ponnappa, AVSM, VSM is a serving General Officer in the Indian Army. He currently serves as the Chief of Staff, Northern Command. As a UN peacekeeper, he is known for his role as commander of the United Nations' MONUSCO forces in the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the M23 rebellion.

Lieutenant General

C B Ponnappa

AVSM, VSM
C B Ponnappa (as a Brigadier) photographed in the Congo in August 2013
Allegiance India
 United Nations
Service/branchIndian Army
Years of service1985 - present
Rank Lieutenant General
Unit2 Mahar
Commands held28 Infantry Division
North Kivu Brigade, MONUSCO
104 Infantry Brigade
2 Mahar
Battles/warsM23 rebellion
Awards Ati Vishisht Seva Medal
Vishisht Seva Medal

Early life and education

Ponnappa hails from the Nangala village near Bittangala in the Kodagu district.[1] He attended the St Joseph's Boys' High School, Bangalore, a part of the batch of 1980. He then attended the St Joseph's College, Bangalore for a year before joining the National Defence Academy in 1981. He graduated from the Indian Military Academy in 1985.[2]

Military Career

Ponnappa was commissioned into the 2nd battalion, Mahar Regiment in June 1985. He commanded a company, combating Counter-insurgency in Manipur. He attended the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. He subsequently served as the Brigade major of an independent armoured brigade. As a Colonel, he later commanded his battalion in amphibious operations.[3] He then served as the Colonel General Staff Operations (Col GS (Ops)) of an Infantry Division. Ponnappa also attended the College of Defence Management where he completed the Higher Defence Management Course.

Promoted to the rank of Brigadier, he commanded the Shakti Vijay Brigade (104 Infantry Brigade) along the Line of Control (LOC) in Jammu and Kashmir in 2012. As a representative of the Indian army, he had flagged off an educational cum motivational tour under Operation Sadhbhavana in Tangdar area of north Kashmir's Kupwara district.[4] Ponnappa also attended the prestigious National Defence College, New Delhi.

UN Peacekeeping

In 2012, Ponnappa was sent to Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of India's UN Peacekeeping force. He was appointed MONUSCO's North Kivu Brigade (NKB) Commander and addressed as 'Brigadier General'. During the M23 rebellion in North Kivu, the UN Peacekeepers secured the airport and maintained status quo while the security responsibilities of Goma was shared between the police deployment, the formed police of MONUSCO and the MONUSCO military.[5][6]

Ponnappa served under Brazilian Lieutenant General Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz who succeeded India's Lieutenant General Chander Prakash as Force Commander of MONUSCO in March 2013.[7] In 2013, the Indian Army planned and implemented a water treatment plant at Otobora, a Congolese village in Walikale, D R Congo, with MONUSCO's approval. The facility was inaugurated by Brigadier General C B Ponnappa on 4 October 2014.[8]


Promoted to the rank of Major General, Ponnappa took over command of the 28 Infantry Division in Gurez.[9] He is the current Chief of Staff of the Northern Command.

Awards and decorations

Ponnappa was awarded the COAS Commendation Card in 1997 and the GOC-in-C commendation card in 2006. In 2017, he was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal and in 2019, the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal.[10][11]

  • MONUSCO NKB commander, Brigadier General C B Ponnappa, briefs members of UN Security Council as they visit the front line in Kibati near Goma from where the M23 rebels have been recently defeated, the 6th of October 2013. © MONUSCO
  • NKB commander, Brigadier General C B Ponnappa and FC Gen. Santos Cruz in the trenches of Munigi hill, the 22nd of August 2013. © MONUSCO
  • FC Gen. Santos Cruz, NKB commander, Brigadier General C B Ponnappa and FIB commander James Aloizi Mwakibolwa in the trenches of Munigi hill, the 22nd of August 2013 © MONUSCO
  • MONUSCO NKB commander, Brigadier General C B Ponnappa, briefs members of UN Security Council as they visit the front line in Kibati near Goma from where the M23 rebels have been recently defeated, the 6th of October 2013. © MONUSCO
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References
  1. "Channira Bansi Ponnappa promoted as Lieutenant General". Star of Mysore. 2 December 2019.
  2. "SJBHS OBA". sjbhsoba.net.
  3. "Karnataka's Kodagu district becomes only place in India to have three Lieutenant Generals serving in Army". The New Indian Express.
  4. "Army flags off educational tour". 25 August 2012. Rashid Makhdoomi. Greater Kashmir. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  5. "Congo: UN peacekeepers patrol conflict-hit Goma". Beyond Dimensions Television. BDTV. 13 December 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  6. "DR CONGO / GOMA PEACEKEEPERS". MONUSCO (United Nations). UNIFEED. 12 December 2012. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  7. "Secretary-General Appoints Lieutenant General Carlos Alberto dos Santos Cruz". United Nations. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  8. IMQ in Indian Army. "Indian Army Provides Treated Water to Congolese Village (October 7, 2013)". Indian Military Quotes. Archived from the original on 10 September 2014. Retrieved 9 September 2014.
  9. Service, Tribune News. "Bandipora-Gurez road reopened for traffic". Tribuneindia News Service.
  10. "SJBHS OBA". sjbhsoba.net.
  11. "411 Republic Day Gallantry and Other Defence Decorations Announced". pib.gov.in.
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