he then commanded an infantry brigade from december 1988 to february 1991 at ranchi, bihar and punjab and was then appointed as the general officer commanding an infantry division in punjab from march 1991 to august 1992. he served as chief of staff, iii corps from september 1992 to june 1993. after his promotion to lieutenant general, he took over as the general officer commanding xv corps in the kashmir valley from july 1993 to february 1995. it was during his tenure as the xv corps commander, that the army made big gains over the militants in kashmir and could even scale down its operations. he was awarded the ati vishisht seva medal (avsm) for his services as the xv corps commander.