An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Lt Gen Pande was commissioned into the Corps of Engineers in December 1982.
He commanded an engineer regiment during Operation Parakram in the Pallanwala sector along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
Operation Parakram, the large-scale mobilisation of troops and weapons to the western border, followed the December 2001 terror attack on Parliament that brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war