A look into the life of General Bipin Rawat

In a shocking incident, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat died after an IAF chopper carrying him crashed near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on December 8.

IAF chopper was carrying CDS General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and 12 others. The IAF Mi-17V5 chopper was airborne from Sulur for Wellington.

General Rawat was born in Pauri, Uttarakhand on March 16, 1958. He attended the Cambrian Hall School, Dehradun and St. Edwards School, Shimla. He later attended the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla. He went on to attend the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun where he was awarded the 'Sword of Honour'.

General Rawat was commissioned into the Indian Army in December 1978 in the same unit as his father, the fifth battalion of 11 Gorkha Rifles. He handled various operational responsibilities in areas along the LoC with Pakistan, the LAC with China and in the North-East.

He was instrumental in reducing the militancy in the Northeast, with one of the highlights of his career being the 2015 cross-border operation into Myanmar in which the Indian Army successfully responded to an ambush by NSCN-K militants.

He was also part of the planning for the 2016 surgical strikes, in which the Indian Army went across the Line of Control into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. It was under his tenure that the army provided stronger defences along the border with Pakistan, when the Indian Air Force carried out the Balakot strikes in February 2019.

Besides Pakistan, he also managed military affairs along the border with China. As Army Chief, General Rawat stood up to Chinese PLA at Doklam plateau on India-Bhutan-China tri-junction for 73 days in 2017.

He had taken over the reins of the Indian Army from General Dalbir Singh Suhag on December 17, 2016, as the 27th Chief of Army Staff (COAS).

Bipin Rawat was on December 30 appointed the first tri-service chief with effect from December 31, 2019. General Rawat was the first sitting Chief of Army Staff to be appointed to the coveted post.

During the span of over 42 years of service in uniform, General Bipin Rawat was conferred with several Presidential Awards which include Param Vishisht Seva Medal and Uttam Yudh Seva Medal for his exceptional services in the Indian Army.