 He won scholarships throughout his academic career.Kalia was selected for the Indian Military Academy in August 1997 through the Combined Defence Services Examination and was commissioned on 12 December 1998.He was posted to the 4th battalion Jat Regiment in the Kargil Sector, where he arrived in mid-January 1999 after reporting at the Jat Regimental Centre, Bareilly, on 31 December 1998.