'A Leader, a Friend': Officials From Across the World Mourn Bipin Rawat's Demise

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a heartfelt statement condoling the deaths.

Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat. 

(Photo: Erum Gour/The Quint)

The sudden and tragic passing of 11 senior defence officials, as well as India's first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika, stunned leaders across the world, as messages of condolences poured in following the accident on Wednesday, 8 December.

Mourning the demise of General Rawat, United States' (US') Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote, "We'll remember Gen. Rawat as an exceptional leader who served his country and contributed to the US-India defense relationship."

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin issued a heartfelt statement expressing that the US defence department is "deeply saddened by the loss."

"I and the Department extend our deepest condolences to the Rawat family, the Indian military, and the people of India after the tragic passing of Chief of Defense Staff General Bipin Rawat in a helicopter crash," he wrote.

Expressing that he viewed Rawat as a 'valued friend' of the US, he added,

"General Rawat left an indelible mark on the course of the US-India defense partnership and was at the center of the Indian Armed Forces’ transformation into a more jointly integrated warfighting organization."

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated this sadness, and expressed his condolences "to the families of the deceased and to the people and Government of India," Stephane Dujarric, his spokesperson told reporters, news agency PTI reported.

"As you may recall, General Rawat served the United Nations with distinction and we fully appreciated that work. He was Brigade Commander of the North Kivu Brigade of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Congo (MONUC) in 2008 and 2009."

Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres