General Kotikalapudi Venkata Krishna Rao, PVSM (16 July 1923 – 30 January 2016) was a former chief of the Indian Army and a former governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura.

[7] After graduating from DSSC, he was appointed general staff officer grade 2 (GSO2) in the army headquarters, where he served till 1955.

On 15 March 1965, by then a lieutenant-colonel, he was promoted to acting brigadier and given command of the 114 Infantry Brigade in the forward area of Ladakh during 1965–66,[2] when he dealt with both Chinese and Pakistani threats.

On return to India, he was promoted substantive brigadier on 5 January 1968 and was appointed deputy director military operations at army headquarters on 13 February,[8][9] serving through 1968–69.

[12] He served in this role from 1972 to 1974, during which period disengagement with Pakistani troops was carried out and fresh plans were made against likely adventures by Pakistan.

[13] In addition, during 1975–76, he was also the chairman of the expert committee constituted by the government on re-organisation and modernisation for future defence of the country.

General Krishna Rao was appointed as chief of army staff on 1 June 1981, and served in that capacity till July 1983.

He was president of Equestrian Federation of India and deputy chairman of the special organising committee of the 1982 Asian Games.

He was patron of the Indian Ex-Services League, United Service Institution of India and National Adventure Foundation.

[14] From June 1984 to July 1989, General Krishna Rao was the governor of the North Eastern States of Nagaland, Manipur and Tripura.

In his capacity of governor of the North Eastern States, he ensured that peace was brought about and maintained, and that the Tripura Agreement was concluded.

When a proxy war developed in Jammu and Kashmir and reached its peak, he was reappointed as governor and served there from 12 March 1993 to 1 May 1998.

His son, K V Narayan Rao, was CEO of the media house NDTV; he died in November 2017 after battling cancer, and within 2 years after his father's death in early 2016.