India lost a brave son, visionary and firm believer of India’s indigenous defence manufacturing capabilities as General Bipin Rawat, the first-ever Chief of Defence Staff of the Indian Armed Forces, was killed in an helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu on December 8. He was 63
On the battlefield, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in 1978 into the Fifth Battalion of the Eleventh Gorkha Rifles of the Infantry, where he soon distinguished himself, earning the ‘Sword of Honour’. His experience with the Eleventh Gorkha Rifles was valuable, as he learnt about combat in high altitudes and operations in counter-insurgency.
In December 2016, Rawat was promoted General and appointed Chief of the Army Staff by the Government of India, breaking tradition by being conferred this post by virtue of merit instead of seniority. 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.
General Rawat was part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force, leading a brigade in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
General MM Naravane #COAS & All Ranks of #IndianArmy pay heartfelt condolences on the untimely demise of General Bipin Rawat #CDS, Mrs Madhulika Rawat & 11 other passengers on board, in an unfortunate air crash at #Coonoor. (1/n) pic.twitter.com/sc6bmFodXJ
— ADG PI – INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) December 8, 2021
General Rawat started reducing the dependence of the Indian armed forces on foreign countries for modern weaponry. He insisted on the integration of the armed forces.
He pushed for integrated theatre commands. Theaterisation means placing certain units of the army, the navy, and the air force under a single commander called the theatre commander. Theatre commands can be led by an officer from any of the three branches of the armed forces.
Historically, until 1914, the navy fought at sea and the army fought on land exclusively. It was only at some point in the middle of the First World War, with the introduction of large battleships, tanks, aircraft, aircraft carriers, and so on, that the three wings of the armed forces began conducting joint operations.
Unruffled by doubters, it was acknowledged by all that his vehement insistence on a united land-air-sea armed force via theatre commands was urgent for an India constrained by limited spending on military modernisation.
He was a staunch supporter of the Make in India initiative. “We should not go in for large amounts of imports by misrepresenting our operational requirements,” he had said. Instead, he suggested promoting the domestic industry by getting weapons from them. In the beginning, naturally, the domestic manufacturers would not meet the General Staff Qualitative Requirements (GSQRs) with exactitude. General Rawat firmly believed that over time, they would deliver state-of-the-art equipment.
In 2019, General Rawat became the first Chief of Defence Staff of India. The post was created with a view to integrating the Indian Army, the Indian Navy, and the Indian Air Force.
General Rawat had fought aganst China in the late 1980s and had led the UN Mission in Congo representing India. His astute handling of the Doklam situation against the Chinese as army chief ensured that India pushed back the Chinese from any misadventure. General Rawat was also the man who handled the two surgical strikes against Pakistan including the Balakot air strike in the wee hours, as Chief of Army Staff, following a terrorist attack in India masterminded by handlers inside Pakistan.
Counterinsurgency in Mayanmar in 2015:
When 18 Indian army jawans in a convoy were killed in Chandel district of Manipur in June 2015, in an attack by the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, a designated terrorist organisation, and the banned Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup, the Indian army retaliated within six days.
In a surgical strike operation inside Myanmar led by then General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the Dimapur-based 3 Cprps Lieutenant General Bipin Rawat 38 Naga militants were killed in just 40 minutes. News papers reported that Rawat had told media that the operation was carried out based on speciic intelligence.
We sincerely pay our tribute to the Chief of Defence Staff of India, General Bipin Rawat, his beloved wife Madhulika Rawat, and to the defence personnel who lost their precious life serving the country on Wednesday. We greave along with the country and pay respect and condolences to the bereaved families.
