India’s first chief of defence staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat was cremated on Friday with full military honours.
General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat were cremated at Delhi Cantonment in New Delhi.
Around 800 personnel from all the three services attended the cremation ceremony of General Bipin Rawat and his wife.
General Rawat was bided farewell with a 17-gun salute as the buglers from the three services played the Last Post and Rouse.
Daughters of the CDS lit the funeral pyre.
Top leaders of the country cutting across party lines paid their respects to the departed soul of the CDS and his wife.
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Defence attaches of different nations also paid their tributes to CDS General Bipin Rawat.
Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India and Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India also paid tributes to CDS General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika Rawat.
CDS General Bipin Rawat, his wife and 11 other military personnel had died in a helicopter crash on December 8 at Coonoor in Tamil Nadu.
Mortal remains of only General Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and Brigadier LS Lidder could have been positively identified thus far.
The last rites of Brigadier Liddar was held at the Delhi cantonment earlier on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force (IAF) has constituted a tri-service Court of Inquiry to probe and ascertain facts that led to the crash of its Mi-17v5 helicopter.
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Daughters of CDS General Bipin Rawat and Madhulika Rawat – Kritika and Tarini – also paid tribute to their parents.
Other members of the family also join them in paying last respects.
63-year-old General Bipin Rawat, a four-star General of the Indian Army, was appointed as the country’s first-ever chief of defence staff (CDS) in January 2019.
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.
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Born on March 16, 1958 in Uttarakhand General Rawat had the reputation of being a tough soldier and an inspiring commander.
Rawat was born at Pauri in Uttarakhand into a Hindu Garhwali Rajput family.
His family had been serving in the Indian Army for multiple generations.
Rawat’s father Laxman Singh Rawat was from Sainj village of the Pauri Garhwal district and rose to the rank of Lieutenant General.
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Bipin Rawat attended Cambrian Hall School in Dehradun and the St Edward’s School in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh.
He then joined the National Defence Academy (NDA) and the Indian Military Academy (IMA), 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.
From his tenure at the DSSC, he has a MPhil degree in Defence Studies.
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Rawat was commissioned into the 5th battalion of 11 Gorkha Rifles on 16 December 1978, the same unit as his father.
He had much experience in high-altitude warfare and spent ten years conducting counter-insurgency operations.
As a Colonel, he had commanded the 5th battalion of 11 Gorkha Rifles, in the Eastern sector along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) at Kibithu in Arunachal Pradesh.
In 2019, General Rawat was inducted to the United States Army Command and General Staff College International Hall of Fame.
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He is also the honorary General of Nepalese Army.
During his career of nearly 43 years, he was awarded for gallantry and distinguished service with the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Uttam Yudh Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Yudh Seva Medal, Sena Medal, Vishisht Seva Medal, the COAS Commendation on two occasions and the Army Commander’s Commendation.