General Bipin Rawat: A decorated military career ends in tragedy

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.



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.



* 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.


* 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.



* 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.



* 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.


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)

Don't miss the yearly horoscope 2025 and Chinese horoscope 2025 for Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig zodiac signs. Spread love this holiday season with these Happy New Year wishes, messages, and quotes.