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India’s Commander of Defense Staff Dies in Chopper Crash

India’s Commander of Defense Staff Dies in Chopper Crash
People light candles to pay their tribute to India's defense chief General Bipin Rawat, who was killed with others a day earlier in a helicopter crash, at a market area in Siliguri on Dec. 9, 2021. Diptendu Dutta/AFP via Getty Images
Venus Upadhayaya
|Updated:

NEW DELHI—Condolences poured in from around the world after India’s first Commander of Defense Staff (CDS), Gen. Bipin Rawat, died along with his wife and 11 others in a helicopter crash on Dec. 8 in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Rawat was a four-star general who assumed office on Jan. 1, 2020.

Venus Upadhayaya
Venus Upadhayaya
Reporter
Venus Upadhayaya reports on India, China, and the Global South. Her traditional area of expertise is in Indian and South Asian geopolitics. Community media, sustainable development, and leadership remain her other areas of interest.
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