Sobti was born in an army family. His father was a general officer in the Indian Army, retiring as a Major General. His mother was a teacher and his elder brother also joined the Army, retiring in 2017.[2]
Sobti was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 1 July 1988. He is a specialist in Navigation and direction. During the specialisation course, he stood first and was adjudged the Best all-round trainee. He attended the Collège Interarmées de Défense in Paris and the College of Naval Warfare (CNW) in Mumbai. During the Naval Higher Command Course at the CNW, he was awarded the CNS Gold Medal for Best Op Paper.[3][2]
Sobti, in his staff appointments, has served as the Joint Director of Staff Requirements and Joint Director of Personnel at Naval headquarters. He also served as the Captain Work-Up at Local Work-Up Team (East). The LWT (East) is under the operational control of Flag Officer Sea Training and administrative control of the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command.[6] As a Commodore, he served as the Naval attaché at the Embassy of India in Moscow.[4]
Flag rank
On promotion to Flag Rank, in March 2019, Sobti took over as the Deputy Commandant and Chief Instructor at the Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala.[7][8][9] After a 21 month stint as Deputy Commandant, he handed over to Rear Admiral A. N. Pramod in January 2021.[7] For this stint, Sobti was awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal on 26 January 2020.[10][11]
On 23 February 2021, he assumed the office of the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet, taking over from Rear AdmiralSanjay Vatsayan who commanded the fleet from 2020 to 2021.[12]
Under his command, the Eastern Fleet, executed Operation Samudra Setu II and Operation Sagar. These operations were aimed at the transfer of medical oxygen and provided humanitarian assistance to friendly foreign countries respectively. The fleet also participated in the maritime exercise Malabar 21 in Western Pacific off Guam.[13] For his command of the Eastern fleet, he was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal on 26 January 2022.[14]
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