He received the Maha Vir Chakra for his exceptional leadership and military skills which led to the destruction of Pakistan's most powerful naval regiment at the Karachi Naval base in the 1971 war. The Karachi Strike Group formed for Operation Trident and Operation Python was under his command. The strike group is also known as the Killer Squadron as India gained Naval supremacy over Pakistan in 1971 war. In memory of both the operations Indian Navy celebrates Navy Day on 4 December every year.