CDS General Bipin Rawat, the straight-shooter who dared China, Pakistan
During nearly 43 years in which he proudly wore the uniform, General Rawat did not hesitate to call out India's adversaries and warn them against even thinking about any sort of misadventure.
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FollowChief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, who lost his life in a helicopter crash on Wednesday in Tamil Nadu's Coonoor, was never the one to shy away from speaking his mind. As the Chief of Defence Staff, General Rawat was instrumental in providing the much-needed boost to the indigenisation of equipment as much as possible while formulating the overall defence acquisition plan for the three Services and strived to achieve synergy among them.Â
During nearly 43 years in which he proudly wore the uniform, General Rawat did not hesitate to call out India's adversaries and warn them against even thinking about any sort of misadventure. Let's go back in time to revisit some of the straight-shooting moments of one of India's most decorated soldiers.Â
* November 11, 2021: 'If the Chinese carry out a Galwan again, they will get the same response. Troops from both sides are closer than other areas. We should not come under any pressure from China's psychological games. That is what they want. China, not Pakistan, is our biggest enemy today.'
* November 1, 2021: 'History teaches that whenever a country has neglected its armed forces and their capacity, external powers have exploited it quickly. India overlooked this in the 1950s and the Chinese attacked the country in 1962. Today, India will never let the guard down against attacks from neighbouring countries'.
* October 23, 2021: 'The better way of describing China's relationship with Pakistan is by calling it an anti-India nexus'.
* July 3, 2021: 'India has sent a strong message that if any sort of hybrid warfare damages our assets and impacts our national security, the country has the right to respond at a time and place of our choosing and the manner in which it wishes to respond.'
* June 22, 2021: 'The deployment of China's People's Liberation Army along the India border has changed especially after the Galwan Valley clash and incidents in other forward areas. They realized that they need to be better trained and better prepared.'
* April 2021: 'There are many are looking at the opportunity in Afghanistan to exploit the vacuum that is being created by the Taliban's takeover. Afghanistan is rich in resources. There are nations (read China) that tend to exploit resources for their own benefit and not of the Afghans.'
* October 2019: 'Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir is not controlled by the Pakistani establishment, but by terrorists. In reality, the PoK is actually a terrorist-controlled part of Pakistan.'
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