How CDS General Bipin Rawat’s role in 1987 Sino-Indian conflict tamed the dragon

The unfortunate and untimely demise of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat has shocked the entire world. CDS Rawat and his wife, Madhulika Rawat, along with 11 others died in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu in a helicopter crash. He was on his way to the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington, Udhagamandalam.

General Rawat was born in an army family on 16 March 1958, in the Pauri Garhwal district in Uttrakhand. His father was Lt. General Laxman Singh Rawat, who served the Indian Army as a lieutenant general. He attended Cambrian Hall School in Dehradun and St. Edward's School in Shimla for his formal education before enrolling at the National Defense Academy in Khadakwasla.

CDS Bipin Rawat's role in the 1987 Sino-Indian conflict

General Rawat's military career started on 16 December 1978, when he was commissioned into the 5th battalion of the 11 Gorkha Rifles, the same unit as his father,  Lt. General Laxman Singh Rawat. During the first few years, he was assigned to command the Infantry Battalion along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Eastern Sector in 1987 where he assisted troops against the Chinese People's Liberation Army in the Sumdorong Chu areas.

CDS Rawat was a captain during the 1987 India-China war and his regiment was deployed against the Chinese Army during the two forces' stalemate near the disputed McMahon Line in Arunachal Pradesh. This was the first standoff between the two countries since the 1962 conflict. Both countries deployed a substantial number of troops stationed around the border. General Rawat's squad held the ground in Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang district. The war came to an end after India's then External Affairs Minister, ND Tiwari, visited Beijing in 1987.

General Rawat served as the General Staff Officer at the Military Operations Directorate, the Colonel and later Deputy Military Secretary in the Military Secretary's Branch, the Major General Staff of the Eastern Theatre, and the Vice Chief of Army Staff during his 42-year military career.

He was Chief of Army Staff from 37 December 2016, to 31 December 2019. He was appointed the Chief of Defence Staff by the Government of India in 2019. General Rawat was appointed as India's first Chief of Defence Staff on 31 December 2019 and had taken office on 1 January 2020.

IAF helicopter crash: 13 dead

CDS General Bipin Rawat, Madhulika Rawat and 11 others died in the IAF helicopter crash at Tamil Nadu's Coonoor on Wednesday. Others onboard the flight include Wg Cdr PS Chauhan, Sqn Ldr K Singh, Defence Assistant to CDS Brigadier LS Lidder, SO to CDS Lt. Col. Harjinder Singh, JWO Das, JWO Pradeep A, Nk Gursewak Singh, Nk Jitendra Kumar, L/Nk Vivek Kumar, L/Nk B Sai Teja and Hav Satpal. All communications with the chopper were lost just before the tragic crash between Coimbatore and Sulur in Tamil Nadu.  A lone survivor, Group Captain Varun Singh, who piloted the chopper is currently battling for his life. 

(Image: AP)