Sobti was commissioned into the
Indian Navy on 1 July 1988. He is a specialist in Navigation and direction. During the specialisation course, he stood first and was adjudged the Best all-round trainee. He attended the Collège Interarmées de Défense in Paris and the
College of Naval Warfare (CNW) in Mumbai. During the Naval Higher Command Course at the CNW, he was awarded the
CNS Gold Medal for Best Op Paper. Sobti has commanded the
Veer-class missile vessel , and the
lead ship of the
Kora-class corvette . In August 2014, the
lead ship of the indigenously-built
Kolkata-class Guided missile destroyers was commissioned by the
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Mumbai. Sobti was the commissioning
Commanding Officer of the ship. Sobti, in his staff appointments, has served as the Joint Director of Staff Requirements and Joint Director of Personnel at Naval headquarters. He also served as the Captain Work-Up at Local Work-Up Team (East). The LWT (East) is under the operational control of
Flag Officer Sea Training and administrative control of the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief
Eastern Naval Command. As a
Commodore, he served as the
Naval attaché at the
Embassy of India in Moscow. After a 21 month stint as Deputy Commandant, he handed over to Rear Admiral A. N. Pramod in January 2021. On 23 February 2021, he assumed the office of the
Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet, taking over from
Rear Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan who commanded the fleet from 2020 to 2021. Under his command, the
Eastern Fleet, executed Operation Samudra Setu II and Operation Sagar. These operations were aimed at the transfer of medical oxygen and provided humanitarian assistance to friendly foreign countries respectively. The fleet also participated in the maritime exercise Malabar 21 in Western Pacific off Guam. For his command of the Eastern fleet, he was awarded the
Ati Vishisht Seva Medal on 26 January 2022. On promotion to the rank of
Vice Admiral, on 24 December 2021, Sobti took over as the
Director General Project Seabird, from Vice Admiral
Puneet Kumar Bahl. On 1 October 2023, Sobti was appointed
Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff and took over Vice Admiral
Sanjay Mahindru who retired. He served as the DCNS during
Operation Sindoor, for which he was awarded the
Uttam Yudh Seva Medal. ==Awards and decorations==