CJCSC, COAS condole with India over death of CDS General Bipin Rawat

Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Nadeem Raza and Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Wednesday offered their condolences to India over the death of the country’s first Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat.

“General Nadeem Raza, CJCSC and General Qamar Javed Bajwa, COAS express condolences on tragic death of CDS General Bipin Rawat, his wife and loss of precious lives in a helicopter crash in India,” tweeted Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Babar Iftikhar after reports of the death emerged.

General Nadeem Raza, CJCSC & General Qamar Javed Bajwa, COAS express condolences on tragic death of #CDS General #BipinRawat, his wife and loss of precious lives in a helicopter crash in India

— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) December 8, 2021

Indian CDS Bipin Rawat, 12 others killed in helicopter crash

Earlier today, the Indian Air Force announced the demise of Chief General Bipin Rawat along with 12 others in a chopper crash.

Rawat was India’s first chief of defence staff, a position that the government established in 2019, and was seen as close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The 63-year-old was travelling in a Russian-made Mi-17 chopper that “met with an accident today near Coonoor, Tamil Nadu”, the Indian Air Force said on Twitter.

Read more: Indian CDS Bipin Rawat, 12 others killed in helicopter crash, confirms IAF

Rawat and his wife were on board along with other officers and were headed to the Defence Services Staff College, a senior army officer told AFP.

Videos broadcast on Indian news channels showed a fiery wreck at the crash site in a dense forested area near the college in Nilgiris district.

Media reports said the chopper took off from Sulur Air Force Station on Wednesday afternoon.