Who was India's first CDS General Bipin Rawat?

General Bipin Rawat was born at Pauri in Uttarakhand on March 16, 1958. His father Laxman Singh Rawat had served in the Indian Army and rose to the rank of Lieutenant General.

After progressing through the National Defence Academy (NDA) and the Indian Military Academy (IMA), General Rawat had been commissioned into the 5th battalion of 11 Gorkha Rifles – where his father had served – on December 16, 1978.

Forty one years later, when the Union government created the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Rawat, who was retiring as Army chief, had been appointed to the role.

Since December 31, 2019, General Rawat had held the topmost position in the services. He was the one-point advisor to the government on matters related to the military. He had aimed to integrate the Army, Navy and the Air Force.

 

Becoming the Army chief
It was on December 17, 2016 that General Rawat took over from General Dalbir Singh Suhag as the Chief of Army Staff, a role he served for three years.

He had already been hailed as a veteran of counterinsurgency warfare having served in a number of strategic operations in the country.

Prior to becoming the Army chief, Rawat had served as a Brigade Commander, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command, General Staff Officer Grade 2 at the Military Operations Directorate, Colonel Military Secretary and Deputy Military Secretary in the Military Secretary’s Branch and Senior Instructor in the Junior Command Wing.

 

Peacekeeping and cross-border strikes
As a brigadier, he had been sent to the Congo on a UN peacekeeping mission, in 2008.

Later, he was instrumental in controlling militancy activities in the Northeast of the country. In June 2015, after 18 Indian soldiers were killed in an ambush in Manipur, general Rawat commanded an offensive. The cross-border strikes were conducted by the Dimapur-based III Corps.

 

Honours
General Rawat was a highly decorated army man, who received a host of gallantry and distinguished service medals, inlcluding the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Uttam Yudh Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Yudh Seva Medal, Sena Medal, and Vishisht Seva Medal.