| Honorific Prefix: | Brigadier |
| Ravi Datt Mehta | |
| Honorific Suffix: | KC |
| Birth Place: | Himachal Pradesh, India |
| Death Place: | Kabul, Afghanistan |
| Allegiance: |  India |
| Branch: | Indian Army |
| Serviceyears: | 1976–2008 |
| Rank: | Brigadier |
| Servicenumber: | IC-31794 |
| Unit: | Military Intelligence |
| Awards: | Kirti Chakra |
Brigadier Ravi Datt Mehta, KC (1954 / 1955 – 7 July 2008) was an flag officer in the Indian Army. He died in the suicide bombing of the Indian Embassy in Kabul while serving as India's Defence Attaché to Afghanistan on 7 July 2008.[1] He was awarded the Kirti Chakra, India's second highest gallantry award.
The Indian Express states that he was a math wizard in his younger days.[2] He joined the Indian Army in 1976 and went on to become a highly rated officer.[3] His selection as defence attaché in Kabul is said to have followed an intensive screening process that shortlists the candidate pool to unofficially the "top three" officers of the Indian Army, prior to making the final selection for the job.[4]
He had proficiency in many languages, including Pashto, Mandarin and Tibetan.[5] His work as defence attaché in Kabul was praised in both Indian media and Pakistani media.[6] In the words of a columnist for Dawn, he was: "an affable defence attaché who was popular with Indian expatriates and local Afghans alike."[7]
It is speculated that he was targeted, allegedly by the Taliban and its state-run de facto intelligence service, Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI),[8] due to his close monitoring of the re-established links between those two organizations, and due to his significant role in training the Afghan army. He was said to have a "good relationship" with Afghan defence minister Abdul Rahim Wardak. Brig. Mehta had earlier also served as the head of the Indian Army's Intelligence Corps in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
A road in his hometown Shimla near his childhood home was posthumously renamed in his honour.[9] India's second-highest peacetime gallantry award. His funeral was attended by Chief of Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Suresh Mehta and Chief of the Air Staff Fali Homi Major.[10]
Brigadier Mehta's wife was also working in Afghanistan for empowerment of women during his stay there. Brigadier Mehta has a son who was then serving in the Indian Air Force as a fighter pilot.[11]
The Kirti Chakra citation on the Official Indian Army Website reads as follows: