IAF Chief hands over baton of Chairman of COSC to General Bipin Rawat

Outgoing Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC), Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, handed over the baton to the new Chairman, General Bipin Rawat on Friday.

The Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee is the seniormost officer in the three defence forces. This is probably the last such ceremony as the government is appointing a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) who would become the seniormost defence officer in the country.

ADG (M & C) DPR, Principal Spokesperson, Ministry of Defence, tweeting some pictures of the baton handing ceremony said, "The outgoing Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa handing over the baton to the new Chairman COSC Chief of the Army Staff General Bipin Rawat in New Delhi, today. Also seen in the picture is Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh."

The Army Chief General Bipin Rawat and Air Chief BS Dhanoa also addressed the gathering. The event was attended by Navy Chief Admiral Karmabir Singh and CISC to Chairman COSC, Lt Gen PS Rajeshwar.

IAF Chief Dhanoa, a Kargil war veteran retires later this month. He took over as the as Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee on June 1 this year succeeding former Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba.

General Rawat was commissioned into Fifth Battalion, the Eleventh Gorkha Rifles of the Indian Army in December 1978, from IMA, Dehradun.

He commanded an Infantry battalion, along the Line of Actual Control in the Eastern Sector, a Rashtriya Rifles Sector, an Infantry Division in the Kashmir Valley, and, a Corps in the North East. He also commanded a Multinational Brigade, in a Chapter VII mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC). As an Army Commander, he commanded a theatre of ops along the Western Front.

Rawat assumed the appointment of the Chief of the Army Staff on December 31, 2016.