Gen. Rawat was a regular at Aero India

He also supported conferring the Bharat Ratna on Field Mashal K.M. Cariappa

Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Bipin Rawat, who was killed in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, was a regular visitor to Bengaluru to take part in defence-related events, including the biennial Bengaluru air show Aero India. He also visited Kodagu many times and highlighted the service of Kodavas in Forces.

He visited two editions of the premier air event as the Chief of Army Staff, in 2017 and 2019. He was back in Bengaluru when the truncated premier event was held early this year as the Chief of Defence Staff. “He was deeply seeped into the military affairs and showed his keenness to participate in such events,” a defence source said.

Among his last events in Bengaluru was the Indian Air Force conclave “Synergised Objectives”, organised to mark 50 years of India’s victory in the 1971 Indo-Pak war on October 22 during which he had indicated that the contours of the theatre command was ready. In his speech, he had warned of the Chinese threat due to the advancement in cyber and space domain, and had pitched to incorporate AI, robotics, cyber, and electronic warfare.