NEW DELHI: General Bipin Rawat , India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, died on Wednesday after his chopper crashed near Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor.He was 63.
CDS Rawat’s wife Madhulika and 11 other personnel were also killed in the crash.
Read Also Deeply anguished by sudden demise of CDS Rawat, says PM Modi: Top developments NEW DELHI: Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife, and 11 others died in a helicopter crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.Official sources said the Indian Air Force Mi-17V5 helicopter crashed inside a deep gorge.There were 14 people on board.Gp Capt Varun Singh, the sole
A decorated military man, General Rawat took over as the first tri-services chief in 2020 after completing his three-year-tenure as the Army Chief.
IAF helicopter crash live updates
Here’s a brief timeline of CDS Rawat ‘s journey…
* General Rawat was born in Pauri, Uttarakhand in a Hindu Garhwali Rajput family.
* Rawat attended Cambrian Hall School in Dehradun and the St.Edward’s School, Shimla.
1 /12 CDS Rawat, wife, 11 others killed in Indian Air Force chopper crash Previous Next Show Captions
CDS Bipin Rawat, wife, 11 others killed in IAF chopper crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu.Picture Credit (PTI)
People light candles to pay their respect in front of a portrait of defence chief General Bipin Rawat in Siligur.Picture credit (AFP)
General Bipin Rawat as a young Second Lieutenant with his father Lt Gen LS Rawat (then Brigadier).
Picture credit: ANI
View outside the residence of General Bipin Rawat in New Delhi.Picture credit (Reuters)
People help carry body of one of the victims from near the site of an IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter crash in Coonoor.Picture credit (AFP)
Rescue officals at the spot where an IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter crashed in Coonoor.Picture credit (PTI)
Group Captain Varun Singh SC, Directing Staff at DSSC and the sole survivor.
Rawat was on a visit to Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington.Picture credit (ANI)
A rescue and search operation is underway after an IAF chopper with CDS Bipin Rawat crashed between Coimbatore and Sulu.Picture credit (ANI)
The copter carrying Gen Rawat, and his entourage crashed in apparently foggy conditions, killing the 13 people on board.Picture credit (ANI)
Wreckage of the crashed IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter, in Coonoor.Picture credit ( ANI)
An IAF chopper with CDS Bipin Rawat, his wife, and defence assistants crashed.
Picture credit (ANI)
* He was a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington and the Higher Command Course at the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
* Several of his family members have served in the Army, including his father Laxman Singh Rawat who rose from the ranks to become the deputy chief of Army staff.
* An infantryman with over four decades of military service, Rawat served along India’s border with China, the Kashmir region and on a United Nations mission in Africa.
Read Also Sanjay Gandhi, Madhavrao Scindia, YSR Reddy and other VIPs who died in air crashes NEW DELHI: Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat’s death in a helicopter crash is the latest on India’s list of fatal air accidents- several of those involved military aircraft, and some claimed the lives of well-known personalities.We take a look at some such major air crashes from the past: May
* As a Colonel, he commanded the 5th battalion of 11 Gorkha Rifles in the Eastern sector along the Line of Actual Control at Kibithu.
* Promoted to the rank of Brigadier, he commanded 5 Sector of Rashtriya Rifles in Sopore.He then commanded a multinational Brigade in a Chapter VII mission in Congo under UN mission.
Gen Bipin Rawat was an outstanding soldier.A true patriot, he greatly contributed to modernising our armed forces… https://t.co/aUyn7tlnST
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) 1638968395000
* After promotion to Major General, Rawat took over as the General Officer Commanding 19th Infantry Division at Uri.
* As a Lt General, he commanded III Corps headquartered in Dimapur before taking over the Southern Army in Pune.
Read Also Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, wife and 11 others die in chopper crash in Tamil Nadu The IAF Mi-17V5 chopper left Sulur air force station around 11.50am and the mishap happened within the next 30 minutes.The chopper crashed into a gorge in the jungle close to a small tribal settlement near Kattery, around seven km away from Coonoor and ten km away from the Defence Services Staff
* He held vast experience in high-altitude warfare and had spent ten years conducting counter-insurgency operations.
* An old associate had told TOI that CDS Rawat was always fond of sports and liked playing football.
* He is survived by two daughters.
An outstanding military commander
As India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Rawat was tasked to bring in theatre command and jointness among the three services, and he was pushing it with a tough approach and specific timelines in the last two years.
Known to be forthright, fearless, and blunt at times, the outstanding military commander ruffled many feathers with his controversial remarks during his tenure as Army Chief and Chief of Defence Staff.
Gen Bipin Rawat possessed an uncanny understanding of geopolitical upheavals, calibrated a tri-services military doctrine to make India face myriad security challenges, and is largely credited with bringing down terror in the northeast and Jammu and Kashmir.
I am shocked and anguished over the untimely demise of Gen.
Bipin Rawat and his wife, Madhulika ji.The nation has… https://t.co/X3HVRqydh1
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) 1638968189000
He strongly backed a policy of hot pursuit in dealing with cross-border terrorism and terror in Jammu and Kashmir when he was the Army Chief between 2016 and 2019.
Much before the Doklam standoff in 2017, Gen Rawat had highlighted that India’s primary and long-term security challenge would come from an increasingly assertive China and that India needed to modernise its armed forces to confront it.
He also ruffled Beijing’s feathers by repeatedly questioning its actions at India’s borders and warning Nepal about China’s growing footprint.
File: CDS Gen Rawat with his wife Madhulika (PTI)
Role in major operations
Gen Rawat had also played a major role in successfully carrying out the 2015 cross-border operation into Myanmar in response to a major ambush by Naga militants.
He was also part of the planning when India carried out surgical strikes against terror launch pads across the Line of Control in Pakistani-Occupied Kashmir that inflicted significant casualties on the adversary.
File: Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat on a two-day visit to J&K after the scrapping of Article 370 in 2019 (PTI)
Gen Rawat was the Chief of Army Staff when Indian fighter jets pounded a Jaish-e-Muhammad terrorist training camp deep inside Pakistan’s Balakot, and was reportedly part of the decision-making process and provided key inputs for the operation.
The first sitting Chief of Army Staff to be appointed as the CDS, Gen Rawat had an illustrious career spanning over four decades during which he served with distinction in several conflict-ridden areas, including Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast.
(With inputs from PTI)
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