New Indian Army chief Lt General Dr Bipin Rawat takes charge
By Syeda Munawara Qazi
Dhaka, Bangladesh: The new Indian Army chief Lt General Dr Bipin Rawat has taken over the charge as the 27th chief of Indian Army.
He has a degree of Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D) in military-media strategic studies and relationship.
Lt General Dr Bipin Rawat is known for his cross-border strikes inside Myanmar (Burma) in reaction of killing of 18 Indian soldiers who ambushed and killed by Naga rebels in Manipur in June 2015. He reportedly planned cross-border strikes through 21 Para (Special Forces) under the operational control of the Dimapur-based III Corps inside Myanmar.
According to his profile, Lt Gen. Rawat was born in Pauri Garhwal district in Uttarakhand and got commissioned in Indian army on 16 December 1978 by joining 5th Battalion of 11 Gorkha Rifles.
He has a vast experience of high altitude warfare and served most of his service tenure in Indian Occupied Kashmir including at Uri.
He also served in Congo on international assignment in UN Mission where he served MONUSCO (a Multinational Brigade in a Chapter VII mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo).
It may be mentioned that Chief of Army of neghbouring Pakistan Lt. Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa also served in UN Mission in Congo as a brigade commander in 2007 under former Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army Bikram Singh. Lt Bajwa assumed charge of Pakistan Army last month.
Lt Gen. Rawat was posted as General Office Commanding in Chief, Southern Command on January 1, 2016 and assumed the post of Vice Chief of Army Staff on September 1, 2016.
