Bipin Laxman Singh Rawat
PVSM UYSM AVSM YSM SM VSM ADC (16 March 1958 – 8
December 2021) was an Indian military officer who was a four-star general of the Indian Army. He served as the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)
of the Indian Armed Forces from
January 2020 until his death in a helicopter crash in
December 2021. Prior to taking over as the CDS, he served as 57th and
last Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee as well
as 26th Chief of Army
Staff of the Indian Army.
On 8 December 2021, Rawat died in the crash of an Indian Air
Force Mi-17 helicopter in Tamil Nadu. He was accompanied by his
wife Madhulika Rawat and
members of his staff, who were also killed in the crash.
Early life and education
Rawat was born in Hindu Garhwali Rajputfamily
in Pauri town
of Pauri Garhwal district, modern-day Uttarakhand state,
on 16 March 1958. His family had been serving in the Indian Army for
multiple generations. His father Laxman Singh Rawat was from Sainj village of
the Pauri Garhwal district and rose to the
rank of Lieutenant General. His mother was
from the Uttarkashi district and was the daughter
of Kishan Singh Parmar, the ex-Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA)
from Uttarkashi.
Rawat attended Cambrian Hall
School in Dehradun and St. Edward's School in Shimla.
He then joined the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and
the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun,
where he was awarded the 'Sword of Honour'.
Rawat was also a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington and the Higher Command Course
at the United States
Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
From his tenure at the DSSC, he obtained an MPhil degree in Defence Studies as well as
diplomas in Management and Computer Studies from the University of Madras. In 2011, he was awarded a
honorary doctorate by CCS University, Meerut for
his research on military-media strategic studies.
Military
career
Rawat was commissioned into the 5th battalion of 11 Gorkha Rifles on
16 December 1978, the same unit as his father. He has much experience in
high-altitude warfare and spent ten years conducting counter-insurgency operations.
He commanded a company in Uri, Jammu and Kashmir as a major. As a colonel,
he commanded his battalion, the 5th battalion 11 Gorkha Rifles,
in the eastern sector along the Line of Actual Control at Kibithu.
Promoted to the rank of brigadier,
he commanded 5 Sector of Rashtriya Rifles in Sopore.
He then commanded a multinational brigade in
a Chapter VII mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO),
where he was twice awarded the Force Commander’s Commendation.
After promotion to major general,
Rawat took over as the General Officer Commanding 19th Infantry Division (Uri). As
a lieutenant general, he commanded III Corps,
headquartered in Dimapur, before taking over the Southern Army in Pune.
He also held staff assignments which included an instructional
tenure at the Indian Military Academy (Dehradun),
General Staff Officer Grade 2 at the Military Operations Directorate, logistics
staff officer of a Re-organised Army Plains Infantry Division (RAPID) in
central India, Colonel Military Secretary and Deputy Military Secretary in the
Military Secretary’s Branch and Senior Instructor in the Junior Command Wing.
He also served as the Major General General Staff (MGGS) of the Eastern Command.
After being promoted to the Army Commander grade, Rawat assumed
the post of General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C) Southern Command on 1 January 2016.
After a short stint, he assumed the post of Vice Chief of Army Staff on 1
September 2016.
On 17 December 2016, the Government of India appointed him as
the 27th Chief of the Army Staff, superseding two
more senior Lieutenant Generals, Praveen Bakshi and P. M. Hariz. He took office of Chief of Army Staff as the 27th COAS
on 31 December 2016, after retirement of General Dalbir Singh Suhag.
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. On his visit to the United
States in 2019, General Rawat was inducted to the United States
Army Command and General Staff College International Hall of
Fame. He was also the honorary General of Nepalese Army.
It has been a tradition between the Indian and Nepali armies to confer the
honorary rank of General to each other's chiefs to signify their close and
special military ties.
1987 Sino-Indian skirmish
During the 1987 Sino-Indian
skirmish in the Sumdorong Chu valley, then Captain
Rawat's battalion was deployed against the Chinese People's Liberation
Army. The standoff was the first military confrontation along the
disputed McMahon Line after
the 1962 war.
UN mission in Congo
Rawat commanded MONUSCO (a Multinational Brigade in a
Chapter VII mission in the Democratic Republic of
the Congo). Within two weeks of deployment in the DRC, the Brigade
faced a major offensive in the east which threatened not only the regional
capital of North Kivu, Goma, but stability across the country as a whole. The
situation demanded a rapid response and North Kivu Brigade was reinforced,
where it was responsible for over 7,000 men and women, representing nearly half
of the total MONUSCO force. Whilst simultaneously engaged in offensive kinetic
operations against the CNDP and other armed groups, Rawat (then Brigadier) carried out tactical support to
the Congolese Army (FARDC), sensitization programmes with the
local population and detailed coordination to ensure that all were informed
about the situation and worked together in prosecuting operations whilst trying
to protect the vulnerable population. This hectic period of operational tempo
lasted a full four months. Goma never fell, the
East stabilized and the main armed group was motivated to the negotiating table
and has since been integrated into the FARDC. He was also tasked to present the
Revised Charter of Peace Enforcement to the Special Representatives of the Secretary-General
and Force Commanders of all the UN missions in a special conference at Wilton Park, London, on 16 May 2009.
2015 Myanmar strikes
In June 2015, eighteen Indian soldiers were killed in an ambush by
militants belonging to the United Liberation Front of Western South East Asia (UNLFW)
in Manipur. The Indian Army responded
with cross-border strikes in which units
of the 21st battalion of the Parachute Regiment struck
an NSCN-K base in Myanmar. 21 Para was
under the operational control of the Dimapur based III Corps, which was then commanded by
Rawat.
Comments on China
On 15 September 2021 while speaking at an event in the capacity
of the CDS at the India International
Centre in New Delhi, General Rawat touched upon the theory of
'clash of civilisations' with regards to the western civilisation and China's
growing relations with countries like Iran and Turkey. The next day, on 16
September 2021, India's Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar conveyed to
his Chinese counterpart that India does not subscribe to any 'clash of
civilisations' theory.
Personal life
In 1985, Rawat married Madhulika Rawat. A descendant of an
erstwhile princely family, she was the daughter of Kunwar Mrigendra
Singh, sometime Riyasatdar of the pargana of Sohagpur Riyasat in Shahdol district and an Indian
National Congress MLA from the district in 1967 and 1972. The couple had two
daughters, Kritika and Tarini.
Death
On 8 December 2021, Rawat, his wife and other senior army
officers were amongst 10 passengers and 4 crew members aboard an Indian Air Force Mil Mi-17 helicopter
that was on its way from the Sulur Airforce base to the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington,
where Rawat was to deliver a lecture. The helicopter crashed in Coonoor, Tamil Nadu,
approximately 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from its destination. Rawat's death –
and those of his wife and 11 others – was later confirmed by the Indian Air Force.
Rawat's liaison officer, Group Captain Varun Singh was the
sole survivor. Rawat was 63 at the time of his death.
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