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On December 8, 2021, at Coonoor, Tamil Nadu, General Bipin Rawat, the first CDS of India, together with his wife Madhulika Rawat and staff, were martyred when an IAF helicopter Mi-17V5 crashed. The bodies of CDS Rawat, his spouse, and Brig. Lidder was put to rest on December 10, 2021, and the Indian Army had confirmed their identities. The black box has been recovered, and a tri-service investigation into the incident has been initiated under the direction of Air Chief Marshal Manavendra Singh.
CDS Bipin Rawat was born in Uttarakhand. He came from a family of Indian soldiers, and his father was a First Lieutenant in the Indian Army.
Bipin Rawat, CDS: Military Career
On December 16, 1978, CDS Bipin Rawat was posted to that same unit of the 5th battalion of the 11 Gorkha Rifles as his father, Laxman Singh Rawat.
CDS Bipin Rawat, then a Major, commanded a company in the battle of Uri in Jammu & Kashmir. He was appointed as Brigadier and led a multinational Brigade in a Chapter VII mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the 5 Sector of the Rashtriya Rifles at Sopore. When Bipin Rawat was promoted to Major General, he took control of the 19th Infantry Division in Uri as the General Officer Commanding. He led the III Corps, located in Dimapur, as a Lieutenant General before obtaining command of the Southern Army in Pune.
After being appointed Army Commander, he became Southern Command General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C). After such a short time, he was elevated to Vice Chief of Army Staff. On December 17, 2016, the Government of India named him the 27th Chief of Army Staff, and he took office on December 31, 2016. He was also the 57th and last Chairman of the Indian Army’s Chiefs of Staff Committee. He was appointed the first CDS on December 30, 2019, and took office on January 1, 2020.
General Rawat's major operations and engagements
In opposition to Pakistan:
The Indian Army, led by Rawat, has taken some of the most severe measures against Pakistan. When the Indian Air Force carried out the Balakot attacks in February 2019, the Army deployed greater defences along the border with Pakistan during his term.
In addition, he has assured harsh punishment for the Pakistan Army’s unjustified ceasefire breaches along the Line of Control.
In opposition to China:
In addition to Pakistan, he has supervised military matters near the Chinese border after the two-month-long Doklam impasse. He has also enabled improved ties between India’s and China’s militaries via frequent border talks, dialogues, and joint exercises.
General Rawat, as Army Chief, stood up to the Chinese PLA at the Doklam plateau on the India-Bhutan-China tri-junction for 73 days in 2017.
Strike in Myanmar:
He was vital in diminishing militancy within the Northeast. One of his career milestones was the Indian Army’s successful response to an NSCN-K terrorist strike in Myanmar in 2015. Rawat led the expedition from the operating command of the Dimapur-based III Corps.
He also helped design the 2016 surgical strikes, during which the Indian Army crossed the Line of Control towards Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Rawat's notable accomplishments as Army Chief include:
Rawat was instrumental in creating reforms in the Army like reforming the Army to eliminate administrative waste, reduce duplication, and boost combat capability.
He has also assured that the man behind machines remains vital by equipping them with modern assault guns from the United States. He was also instrumental in the Army’s modernization.
During his tenure, the Army agreed to the government’s decision to tax disability pensions, which infuriated disabled veterans. Under his leadership, cantonment roads were opened to civilians, generating security concerns among the military community.
The United Nations Mission
When Bipin Rawat assumed command of the United Nations’ North Kivu Brigade in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2008, the world’s most expensive peacekeeping operation, known by its French title MONUC, was not doing well.
The villagers despised UN forces, asking what impact they had made in their life and accusing the mission of failing to protect them. Angry crowds would often throw stones at UN vehicles on the streets of Goma, the city of North Kivu, and the base of the Indian brigade.
General Rawat was a brigadier when he was posted to the Congo in August 2008 to head the Indian Army’s biggest deployment on foreign territory. He got right to work and immediately saw why the peacekeepers were trying to keep the situation in the Congo, then known as Zaire, under control.
Within just a month of his arrival, Rawat transformed the velvet-glove policy into an iron fist, routinely authorising the deployment of assault helicopters to strafe locations held by rebel groups guilty of civilian killings, recruiting child soldiers, and relocating millions of people.
The general is praised for delivering dynamic leadership underneath the flag of the United Nations. Under his direction, the Indian peacekeepers shifted from a soft glove to an iron fist.
His contribution to India and the Indian army is commendable, and he will always be an inspiration for the youth of this country.
