Gen Bipin Rawat no more: DRDO condoles demise of India's first Chief of Defence Staff

The Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) paid homage to Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Bipin Rawat, who passed away in an unfortunate helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu's Coonoor on Wednesday. Gen Rawat was among the 13 deceased passengers out of 14 who were on board the Mi17V5 helicopter that was bound for the Wellington Staff College. Taking to Twitter, DRDO expressed grief over the demise of Gen Rawat and called it a major loss to the country. 

India pays tribute to Gen Bipin Rawat 

Soon after the news about the death of India's first CDS surfaced, many prominent leaders joined in to pay their tributes. The confirmation about Gen Rawat's demise was earlier confirmed by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in its statement released earlier on Twitter. in a thread of tweets, IAF wrote, "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". Sadly enough, the 63-year-old Rawat was on his way to Wellington Staff College with his wife Mrs. Madhulika Rawat to deliver a lecture at 2:45 PM but the helicopter crashed just minutes before landing. The incident is even more hurtful as Gen Rawat had survived a helicopter crash that occurred in 2015 in Nagaland. 

From Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, all have expressed their sadness for Gen Rawat and hailed his contributions to the country. "Gen Bipin Rawat was an outstanding soldier. A true patriot, he greatly contributed to modernising our armed forces and security apparatus. His insights and perspectives on strategic matters were exceptional. His passing away has saddened me deeply. Om Shanti", PM Modi wrote in his Twitter post.