A helicopter carrying India’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat crashed near the town of Coonoor in southern India on Wednesday, the Indian Air Force said.
Rawat was appointed as India’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) by Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s government in late 2019. The position was set-up with the aim of integrating India’s three services – the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.
A military helicopter carrying Indian defence chief General Bipin Rawat crashed near the town of Coonoor in southern India on Wednesday, the Indian Air Force said.
However, the status of Gen. Rawat and his wife who was also onboard, was not known. An inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident.
According to India Today, at least two people have been confirmed dead in the crash, while three others have been rescued so far. There were 14 people on board, including Gen Rawat, his wife, defence assistant, security commandos and an IAF pilot.
Latest visuals from the spot (between Coimbatore and Sulur) where a military chopper crashed in Tamil Nadu. CDS Bipin Rawat, his staff and some family members were in the chopper. (Pics Source: Locals involved in search and rescue operation)
CDS General Bipin Rawat is the highest-serving military official in the Indian army, who was appointed to the newly-created post of CDS, a day before he was set to retire as the army chief on December 31, 2019. As part of his new assignment, Gen Rawat was heading the new Department of Military Affairs in the Defence Ministry.
In Dec 2015, the Modi government had appointed Gen Rawat as the army chief by superseding two senior officers. Rawat comes from a military family with several generations having served in the Indian armed forces.
The general, who has four decades of service behind him, has commanded forces in Indian-administered Kashmir and along the Line of Actual Control bordering China.
He is credited with reducing insurgency on India’s northeastern frontier and supervised a cross-border counter-insurgency operation into neighbouring Myanmar.
