Foreign minister shocked at India’s defence chief’s death in chopper crash

Bangladesh foreign minister AK Abdul Momen has expressed deep shock at the death of India’s Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, his wife Madhulika Rawat and other co-passengers in a chopper crash in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, reports UNB.

India’s top military commander, his wife and 11 others died after the Mi-17V5 helicopter came down in the hilly terrain of the Nilgiris in the state’s Coonoor district and burst into flames on Wednesday morning.

“I’m deeply shocked and saddened,” Momen said in a condolence message forwarded to his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar.

On behalf of the government of Bangladesh and on his own behalf, the foreign minister conveyed deepest condolences to the bereaved family members of General Rawat and other deceased, and the people of India.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and their near and dear ones. May they have the strength to bear with the irreparable losses,” the message reads.

Bipin Rawat, 63, was appointed as India’s first chief of defence staff in January 2019.

General Rawat has had a chequered career in the armed forces spanning over 40 years, rising from the rank of a junior commissioned officer to the Indian Army chief and eventually the first head of the tri-services – the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force.