A military base on the banks of Lohit Valley along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China, as well as a crucial road in this mountain hamlet, were named after India’s first Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat on Saturday, nearly nine months after he died in a helicopter crash, news agency PTI reported.
From 1999 to 2000, Rawat led his Battalion 5/11 Gorkha Rifles at Kibithu and made significant contributions to the area’s security establishment.
At a ceremony attended by Arunachal Pradesh Governor Brigadier (retd) B D Mishra, Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen Rana Pratap Kalita, and Gen Rawat’s daughters Kritika and Tarini, the Kibithu military camp and the 22-kilometer-long road stretch from Walong to Kibithu were named after Gen Rawat. Several high military officers were also there.
The Kibithu military camp was renamed Gen Bipin Rawat Military Garrison, and the governor dedicated a majestic gate erected in local traditional architectural style.
Chief Minister Khandu designated the 22-kilometer length of road from Walong to Kibithu as Gen Bipin Rawat Marg.
A magnificent life-sized mural of Gen Rawat was also unveiled.
On December 8, last year, Gen Rawat, his wife Madhulika, and 12 armed forces soldiers were killed in a helicopter accident near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu.
Kibithu is a tiny hamlet on the banks of the Lohit Valley in India’s far east.
Kibithu, a circle in Arunachal Pradesh’s Anjaw district, is regarded as a strategic military site.
According to the Army, Gen Rawat’s vision and foresight were critical in executing infrastructure development and assuring socioeconomic growth in the area.
“Gen Bipin Rawat’s untimely demise in December 2021 left an irreplaceable void in the country,” the army was quoted by PTI in its report.
Kibithu and Walong residents also attended the event.
According to the Army, the celebration has strengthened civil-military relations and is a worthy homage to India’s first Chief of Defence Staff.
In March, then-Army Chief Gen M M Naravane announced the establishment of a ‘Chair of Excellence’ at the United Service Institution of India (USI), a major military think tank in Delhi, in honour of India’s first Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat.
(With Inputs From PTI)
