Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh critically ill at the Army Research and Referral Hospital here on Saturday, according to reliable sources. However, an official confirmation is still awaited. He was 98. He was admitted to the hospital after he complained of uneasiness.
Earlier, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and IAF chief BS Dhanoa visited the hospital. Arjan Singh is the only officer of the Indian Air Force to be promoted to five-star rank, equal to a Field Marshal, to which he was promoted in 2002.
He became the first Air Chief Marshal of the
Indian Air Force to be upgraded to the position of Air Chief Marshal
from the rank of Chief of the Air Staff in recognition of his Air
Force’s contribution in the 1965 war.
Arjan Singh was one pilot who grew up in the annals of the air force as
the first chief for leading the force into war. He was Chief of Air
Staff when the IAF saw action in its first combat of the modern age in
1965. He was hardly 44 years years of age when entrusted with the
responsibility of leading the Indian Air Force.
Arjan Singh was born on 15 April 1919, in Lyalpur, completing his education at Montgomery. He was still in college in 1938, 19 years of age when he was selected for the Empire Pilot training course at RAF Cranwell.
He took retirement from services in 1970 at the age of 50. In 1971, he was appointed as the Indian Ambassador to Switzerland. He concurrently served as the Ambassador to the Vatican.
