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Bipin Rawat
Official portrait, 2020
1st Chief of Defence Staff
In office
1 January 2020 (2020-01-01) – 8 December 2021 (2021-12-08)
PresidentRam Nath Kovind
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Minister of DefenceRajnath Singh
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byVacant
57th Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee
In office
27 September 2019 (2019-09-27) – 31 December 2019 (2019-12-31)
PresidentRam Nath Kovind
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Minister of DefenceRajnath Singh
Preceded byBirender Singh Dhanoa
Succeeded byOffice abolished
26th Chief of the Army Staff
In office
31 December 2016 (2016-12-31) – 31 December 2019 (2019-12-31)
PresidentPranab Mukherjee
Ram Nath Kovind
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Minister of DefenceNirmala Sitharaman
Arun Jaitley
Manohar Parrikar
Preceded byDalbir Singh Suhag
Succeeded byManoj Mukund Naravane[1]
37th Vice Chief of the Army Staff
In office
1 September 2016 (2016-09-01) – 31 December 2016 (2016-12-31)
PresidentPranab Mukherjee
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Minister of DefenceManohar Parrikar
Preceded byMan Mohan Singh Rai
Succeeded bySarath Chand
Personal details
Born
Bipin Laxman Singh Rawat

(1958-03-16)16 March 1958
Pauri, Uttar Pradesh, India
(now in Uttarakhand, India)
Died8 December 2021(2021-12-08) (aged 63)
Nanjappachatiram hamlet, Bandishola Panchayat, Coonoor Taluk, Nilgiris District, Tamil Nadu, India[2][3][4]
Cause of deathHelicopter crash
Spouse
(m. 1985; died 2021)
Children2
Alma mater
Military service
Allegiance India
Branch/service Indian Army
Years of service16 December 1978 – 8 December 2021
Rank General
Unit5/11 Gorkha Rifles
Commands
Service numberIC-35471M[6]
Awards

General Bipin Laxman Singh Rawat PVSM UYSM AVSM YSM SM VSM ADC (16 March 1958 – 8 December 2021) was an Indian military officer who was a four-star general of the Indian Army.[7] He served as the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) of the Indian Armed Forces from January 2020 until his death in a helicopter crash in December 2021.[8][9][10][11] Prior to taking over as the CDS, he served as 57th and last Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee as well as 26th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army.[12]

On 8 December 2021, Rawat died in the crash of an Indian Air Force Mi-17 helicopter in Tamil Nadu. He was accompanied by his wife Madhulika Rawat and members of his staff, who were also killed in the crash.[13][14]

Early life and education

Bipin Laxman Singh Rawat was born in Hindu Garhwali Rajput family[15][16][17] in Pauri town of Pauri Garhwal district, modern-day Uttarakhand state, on 16 March 1958.[18][19] His family had been serving in the Indian Army for multiple generations. His father Laxman Singh Rawat was from Sainj village of the Pauri Garhwal district and rose to the rank of Lieutenant General.[20][21][22] His mother was from the Uttarkashi district and was the daughter of Kishan Singh Parmar, the ex-Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Uttarkashi.[23]

Rawat attended Cambrian Hall School in Dehradun and St. Edward's School in Shimla.[24] He then joined the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, from where he graduated first in the order of merit and was awarded the 'Sword of Honour'.[25]

Rawat was also 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 (USACGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1997.[26][27][28] From his tenure at the DSSC, he obtained an MPhil degree in Defence Studies as well as diplomas in Management and Computer Studies from the University of Madras. In 2011, he was awarded a honorary doctorate by CCS University, Meerut for his research on military-media strategic studies.[29][30]

Military career

Early career

Rawat was commissioned into the 5th battalion, the 11 Gorkha Rifles (5/11 GR) on 16 December 1978, the same unit as his father.[31][32] He has much experience in high-altitude warfare and spent ten years conducting counter-insurgency operations.[28]

He commanded a company in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir as a major. As a colonel, he commanded his battalion, the 5th battalion, the 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 the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO), where he was twice awarded the Force Commander’s Commendation.[33][34]

General officer

After promotion to major general, Rawat took over as the General Officer Commanding 19th Infantry Division (Uri). As a lieutenant general, he commanded III Corps, headquartered in Dimapur, before taking over the Southern Army in Pune.[33][34]

He also held staff assignments which included an instructional tenure at the Indian Military Academy (Dehradun), General Staff Officer Grade 2 at the Military Operations Directorate, logistics staff officer of a Re-organised Army Plains Infantry Division (RAPID) in central India, Colonel Military Secretary and Deputy Military Secretary in the Military Secretary’s Branch and Senior Instructor in the Junior Command Wing. He also served as the Major General General Staff (MGGS) of the Eastern Command.[33][34]

After being promoted to the Army Commander grade, Rawat assumed the post of General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Southern Command on 1 January 2016. After a short stint, he assumed the post of Vice Chief of Army Staff on 1 September 2016.[35][36]

On 17 December 2016, the Government of India appointed him as the 27th Chief of the Army Staff, superseding two more senior Lieutenant Generals, Praveen Bakshi and P. M. Hariz.[37] He took office of Chief of Army Staff as the 27th COAS on 31 December 2016, after retirement of General Dalbir Singh Suhag.[38][39]

He was the third officer from the Gorkha Brigade to become the Chief of the Army Staff, after Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw and General Dalbir Singh Suhag. On his visit to the United States in 2019, General Rawat was inducted to the United States Army Command and General Staff College International Hall of Fame.[40] He was also the honorary General of Nepalese Army. It has been a tradition between the Indian and Nepali armies to confer the honorary rank of General to each other's chiefs to signify their close and special military ties.[41]

1987 Sino-Indian skirmish

During the 1987 Sino-Indian skirmish in the Sumdorong Chu valley, then Captain Rawat's battalion was deployed against the Chinese People's Liberation Army.[42] The standoff was the first military confrontation along the disputed McMahon Line after the 1962 war.[43]

UN mission in Congo

Rawat commanded MONUSCO (a Multinational Brigade in a Chapter VII mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Within two weeks of deployment in the DRC, the Brigade faced a major offensive in the east which threatened not only the regional capital of North Kivu, Goma, but stability across the country as a whole. The situation demanded a rapid response and North Kivu Brigade was reinforced, where it was responsible for over 7,000 men and women, representing nearly half of the total MONUSCO force. Whilst simultaneously engaged in offensive kinetic operations against the CNDP and other armed groups, Rawat (then Brigadier) carried out tactical support to the Congolese Army (FARDC), sensitization programmes with the local population and detailed coordination to ensure that all were informed about the situation and worked together in prosecuting operations whilst trying to protect the vulnerable population. This hectic period of operational tempo lasted a full four months. Goma never fell, the East stabilized and the main armed group was motivated to the negotiating table and has since been integrated into the FARDC. He was also tasked to present the Revised Charter of Peace Enforcement to the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General and Force Commanders of all the UN missions in a special conference at Wilton Park, London, on 16 May 2009.[26][27][44]

General Dalbir Singh Suhag handing over the baton to Rawat at Army HQ

2015 Myanmar strikes

In June 2015, eighteen Indian soldiers were killed in an ambush by militants belonging to the United Liberation Front of Western South East Asia (UNLFW) in Manipur. The Indian Army responded with cross-border strikes in which units of the 21st battalion of the Parachute Regiment struck an NSCN-K base in Myanmar. 21 Para was under the operational control of the Dimapur based III Corps, which was then commanded by Rawat.[28][45]

Bilateral visits as Chief of the Army Staff

Country Date Purpose References
2017
   Nepal 28–31 March
  • Bilateral discussions with President, Prime Minister and Defence Minister.
  • Visited a high-altitude military warfare training centre at Pokhara and Muktinath.
[46][47]
 Bangladesh 31 March – 2 April
  • Bilateral discussions with President, Prime Minister and Chief of Army Staff.
  • Visited headquarters of an infantry division and armoured corps at Bogra.
[47][48]
 Bhutan 27–30 April
  • Audience with King of Bhutan.
  • Goodwill visit.
[49]
 Myanmar 28–31 May [50]
 Kazakhstan 1–3 August
  • Bilateral discussions with Defence Minister, Chairman of the National Security Committee, Vice Minister of Defence and Commander-in-Chief of Land Forces of Kazakhstan.
  • Visited elite Air Assault Brigade and National Defence University in Astana
[51]
 Turkmenistan 4–5 August
  • Bilateral discussions with Minister of Defence & Secretary, National Security Council, First Deputy Minister & Chief of General Staff, Commanders of Land, Naval, Air & Air Defence Forces
  • Visited the Military Institute & Military Academy
[51]
2018
   Nepal 12–14 February
  • Bilateral meetings with President and Prime Minister
  • Chief guest at Army day of the Nepalese Army
[52][53][54]
 Sri Lanka 14–17 May [55][56]
 Russia 1–6 October
  • Bilateral meetings with senior military officers
  • Visited the Mikhailovskaya Artillery Academy, Western Military District HQ (St Petersburg) and HQ and General Staff Academy at Moscow
[57]
 Vietnam 22–25 November
  • Bilateral meetings with Defence Minister, Deputy Chief of the General Staff and other senior military personnel
  • Visited the HQ of an infantry division near Hanoi and 7 Military Region HQ at Ho Chi Minh City
[58]
 Tanzania
 Kenya
17–20 December
  • Met senior civil and military leaders of the two countries
[59]
2019
 United States 2–5 April [60]
Maldives
30 September – 3 October 2019
  • Interacted with the hierarchy of the Maldivian government and armed forces.
  • visit aimed at strengthening close bilateral defence ties between the two nations.
  • Army Chief meet Mr Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Hon'ble President of Maldives, Ms Mariya Ahmed Didi, minister of defence, Mr Abdullah Shahid, foreign minister and Major General Abdulla Shamaal, chief of National Defence Forces.
  • Military vehicles and military equipment exchanged
[61]

Comments on China

On 15 September 2021 while speaking at an event in the capacity of the CDS at the India International Centre in New Delhi, General Rawat touched upon the theory of clash of civilisations with regards to the western civilisation and China's growing relations with countries like Iran and Turkey.[62] The next day, on 16 September 2021, India's Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar conveyed to his Chinese counterpart that India does not subscribe to any clash of civilisations theory.[63]

Personal life

Madhulika Rawat and then COAS Bipin Rawat at the NCC Reception, in New Delhi on 16 January 2018.

In 1985, Rawat married Madhulika Raje Singh. A descendant of an erstwhile princely family, she was the daughter of Kunwar Mrigendra Singh, sometime Riyasatdar of the pargana of Sohagpur Riyasat in Shahdol district and an Indian National Congress MLA from the district in 1967 and 1972.[64] She was educated at Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya in Gwalior and graduated in psychology at Delhi University.[65] The couple had two daughters, Kritika and Tarini.[66]

Madhulika Rawat was the president of the Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) during Bipin Rawat's tenure as Chief of Army Staff. She became the president of the Defence Wives Welfare Association (DWWA), upon the creation of the post and the appointment of General Bipin Rawat as the first CDS. She worked to make the wives of defence personnel financially independent.[67] She was also involved with NGOs and welfare associations such as Veer Naris that assists widows of military personnel, differently-abled children and cancer patients.[68]

Death

On 8 December 2021, Rawat, his wife and members of his staff were amongst 10 passengers and 4 crew members aboard an Indian Air Force Mil Mi-17 helicopter flight en route from the Sulur Airforce base to the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington, where Rawat was to deliver a lecture.[69] At around 12:10 p.m. local time, the aircraft crashed near a residential colony of private tea estate employees on the outskirts of the hamlet of Nanjappachatiram, Bandishola panchayat, in the Katteri-Nanchappanchathram area of Coonoor taluk, Nilgiris district.[2][3][4] The crash site was 10 km from the flight's intended destination.[70] Rawat's death – and those of his wife and 11 others – was later confirmed by the Indian Air Force. Rawat's liaison officer, Group Captain Varun Singh was the sole survivor.[71] Rawat was 63 at the time of his death.[72]

Honours and decorations

During his career of nearly 43 years, he was awarded for gallantry and distinguished service with the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Uttam Yudh Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Yudh Seva Medal, Sena Medal, Vishisht Seva Medal, the COAS Commendation on two occasions and the Army Commander’s Commendation.[26][73][74][75][76][77][78]

Param Vishisht Seva Medal Uttam Yudh Seva Medal
Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Yudh Seva Medal Sena Medal Vishisht Seva Medal
Wound Medal Samanya Seva Medal Special Service Medal Operation Parakram Medal
Sainya Seva Medal High Altitude Service Medal Videsh Seva Medal 50th Anniversary of Independence Medal
30 Years Long Service Medal 20 Years Long Service Medal 9 Years Long Service Medal MONUSCO

Dates of rank

Insignia Rank Component Date of rank
Second Lieutenant Indian Army 16 December 1978[79]
Lieutenant Indian Army 16 December 1980[80]
Captain Indian Army 31 July 1984[81]
Major Indian Army 16 December 1989[82]
Lieutenant Colonel Indian Army 1 June 1998[83]
Colonel Indian Army 1 August 2003[84]
Brigadier Indian Army 1 October 2007 (seniority from 17 May 2007)[85]
Major General Indian Army 20 October 2011 (substantive, seniority from 11 May 2010)[86]
Lieutenant General Indian Army 1 June 2014 (substantive)[87]
General
(COAS)
Indian Army 1 January 2017[88]
General
(CDS)
Indian Armed Forces
(tri-service)
31 December 2019[89]

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Military offices
Preceded by
office established
Chief of Defence Staff
1 January 2020–8 December 2021
Succeeded by
Vacant
Preceded by Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee
27 September 2019–31 December 2019
Succeeded by
office abolished
Preceded by Chief of the Army Staff
31 December 2016 – 31 December 2019
Succeeded by
Preceded by Vice Chief of the Army Staff
1 September 2016 – 31 December 2016
Succeeded by
Preceded by General Officer-Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command
1 January 2016 – 31 July 2016
Succeeded by
Preceded by General Officer Commanding III Corps
1 September 2014 – 23 November 2015
Succeeded by