Chennai: General Bipin Laxman Singh Rawat, the first Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) of India and four-star general of the Indian Army who passed away near Coonoor on Wednesday while traveling along with 13 other people including his wife when the chopper unexpectedly crashed, had close links with Tamilnadu.
Bipin Rawat was a graduate from the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. He had obtained an MPhil degree in Defense Studies and a diploma in management and computers studies from the University of Madras.
Bipin Rawat was born on 16 March, 1958, in Pauri, Uttarakhand, in a Hindu Garhwali family. His father Laxman Singh Rawat had served in the Indian Army and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-General. Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat are succeeded by their two daughters. Rawat’s family has been serving in the Indian Army for the last four generations.
Gen. Bipin Rawat was India’s first and only Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) who assumed office on 1 January, 2020. Before taking over as the CDS, he served as 57th Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee as well as 27th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army.
Rawat was commissioned into the 5th Battalion of 11 Gorkha Rifles in 1978, the same unit as his father. He spent 10 years conducting counter-insurgency operations.