As a UN peacekeeper, he is known for his role as commander of the United Nations' MONUSCO forces in the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the M23 rebellion.

He then attended the St Joseph's College, Bangalore for a year before joining the National Defence Academy in 1981.

[4] He then served as the Colonel General Staff Operations (Col GS (Ops)) of an Infantry Division.

As a representative of the Indian Army, he had flagged off an educational and motivational tour under Operation Sadhbhavana in Tangdhar area of north Kashmir's Kupwara district.

In 2012, Gen Ponnappa was sent to Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as part of India's UN Peacekeeping Force deployment.

[8] In 2013, the Indian Army planned and implemented a water treatment plant at Otobora, a Congolese village in Walikale, D R Congo, with MONUSCO's approval.