Tragedy in the hills:India’s top gun dies

Mi-17 carrying Gen Rawat, wife crashes in Coonoor

New Delhi: President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leaders across the political spectrum condoled the demise of Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and hailed his contribution to the armed forces as well as the country.

General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 others were killed in a helicopter crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, the Indian Air Force said.

The copter carrying General Rawat and his entourage crashed in apparently foggy conditions, killing the 13 people on board, the IAF and other officials said. One person, the pilot, survived the crash and is being treated at a hospital.

“As India’s first CDS, General Rawat worked on diverse aspects relating to our armed forces including defence reforms. He brought with him a rich experience of serving in the Army. India will never forget his exceptional service,” PM Modi said.

India’s first CDS, the man behind ‘hot pursuit’ & Balakot

New Delhi: A quintessential military commander, 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 militancy in the Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir.

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 63-year-old outstanding military commander ruffled many feathers with his controversial remarks during his tenure as Army Chief and Chief of Defence Staff. He strongly backed a policy of hot pursuit in dealing with cross-border terrorism and militancy 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. 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 infl icted signifi cant casualties on the adversary. Gen Rawat was the Chief of Army Staff when Indian fi ghter jets pounded a Jaish-e- Mohammad terrorist training camp deep inside Pakistan’s Balakot, and was reportedly part of the decision-making process and provided key inputs for the operation. –(PTI)