EAM Jaishankar condoles unfortunate demise of CDS Gen Bipin Rawat; 'huge loss to nation'

In a very unfortunate incident, Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, along with his wife and 11 others, was killed in a helicopter crash at Tamil Nadu's Coonoor on Wednesday. External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar took to Twitter to condole the demise of Gen Rawat and his wife. "Deeply shocked at tragic demise of CDS General Bipin Rawat and his wife. We worked closely together in the last few years. It is a huge loss to the nation," EAM wrote on Twitter. Earlier, the Indian Air Force (IAF) confirmed the demise of the senior army officer.  "With deep regret, it has now been ascertained that Gen Bipin Rawat, Mrs Madhulika Rawat and 11 other persons on board have died in the unfortunate accident," the IAF said in a statement. 

As per sources, the crew onboard included - CDS Gen Bipin Rawat, his wife  Madhulika Rawat, Brig LS Lidder, Lt Col Harjinder Singh, Group Capt Varun Singh, NK Gursewak Singh, NK Jitendra Kumar, L/Naik Vivek Kumar, L/Naik B Sai Teja and Hav Satpal. Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force has initiated an inquiry into the crash. Previously, General Rawat had miraculously survived a single-engine helicopter crash in 2015, minutes after it took off from Nagaland.

EAM S Jaishankar expresses condolences over CDS Bipin Rawat's demise 

About CDS Bipin Rawat

CDS Gen Bipin Rawat was appointed as India's first Chief of Defence Staff on December 31, 2019, a day before his retirement, after a remarkable Army career spanning 42 years. Rawat graduated from the National Defence Academy in 1978 and was commissioned into the Fifth Battalion of the Eleventh Gorkha Rifles of the Infantry, which was commanded by his father, Lieutenant General Laxman Singh Rawat. Gen Bipin Rawat also commanded an Infantry Battalion along the Line of Actual Control in the Eastern Sector and a Rashtriya Rifles Sector in the Kashmir Valley, among other operational duties.

Image: PTI/ANI