General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 other Armed Forces personnel have died in an extremely unfortunate helicopter accident Wednesday (8 December) in Tamil Nadu.
The Indian Air Force said in a Twitter post that Gen Bipin Rawat was on a visit to Defence Services Staff College to address the faculty and student officers of the staff course.
India’s prime minister Narendra Modi said that General Rawat was an outstanding soldier and a true patriot who greatly contributed to modernizing the country’s armed forces and security apparatus
Gen Rawat has been credited with reducing armed conflicts on India’s northeastern frontier and supervised a cross-border counterinsurgency operation into neighbouring Myanmar.
“The tragic accident took place near the town of Coonoor at noon on Wednesday’’ the Indian Air Force tweeted.
Mrs Neeta Chaudhari, President AFWWA and all Sanginis express their deepest condolences on the untimely demise of Mrs Madhulika, Gen Rawat and 11 other Service personnel. In this hour, we stand behind the ladies and families who have lost their dear ones in this unfortunate crash
— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) December 8, 2021
Rawat, 63, was appointed as India’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in late 2019.
“As India’s first CDS, Gen 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.” Modi added.
Also commenting on the incident, India’s Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said “His untimely death is an irreparable loss to our Armed Forces and the country”
According to him, General Rawat had served the country with exceptional courage and diligence. As the first Chief of Defence Staff, he had prepared plans for jointness of our Armed Forces.
Videos broadcast on Indian news channels showed the helicopter in flames in a densely forested area near the college as locals tried to put out the fire.
Winifred Lartey
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