In Heart-Warming Twitter Exchange, Pakistani Major Condoles Bipin Rawat's Death

Major Adil Raja, who paid his respects to the late Chief of Defence Staff, said it was "the decent thing to do."

When an Indian war veteran took to Twitter to condole the demise of Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat, among those who expressed their respects in the comments of the post was a former Pakistani soldier.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

When an Indian veteran took to Twitter to condole the demise of Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat, among those who expressed their respects in the comments of the post was a former Pakistani soldier.

"Salute you, Sir. Jai Hind," Brigadier R S Pathania, an Indian veteran, had tweeted on Wednesday, 8 December, shortly after CDS Rawat died in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu.

"Sir, please accept my heartfelt condolences," wrote Adil Raja, a former Major of the Pakistan Army.

"Thank you, Adil. That’s what is expected from a soldier. Salute you," said Pathania in response to the ex-major's condolences.

Raja, who is the spokesperson for the Pakistan Ex Servicemen Society (PESS), acknowledged that his tribute was "the decent thing to do as a soldier."

"Of course, Sir, it's the decent thing to do as a soldier. Again, sorry for your loss, Sir. In our Punjabi folklore, they say, "dushman maray te khushian na manawoo, kadday sajna v mar jaana" Means: "Don't celebrate the deaths of your enemies as some day friends would also die," the former Pakistan Army major wrote.

The heart-warming exchange was hailed by Twitterati as a testament to the unifying sense of humanity that prevails across national borders despite the history of political and military tensions between the two countries.

Pakistan Army Chief Expresses Condolences

Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Nadeem Raza and Chief of Army Staff of Pakistan General Qamar Javed Bajwa, expressed their condolences on “the tragic death of CDS General Bipin Rawat, his wife and loss of precious lives in a helicopter crash,” said the Inter-Services Public Relations of Pakistan Armed Forces in a tweet.

General Rawat and General Bajwa knew each other well, after having served together in a United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission in Congo in 2008.

While General Rawat had led the North Kivu Brigade of the mission, General Bajwa had commanded the South Kivu Brigade of the multinational peacekeeping operation, the Hindu reported.

An IAF Mi-17V5 helicopter, which was carrying CDS General Bipin Rawat, had crashed in Tamil Nadu's Coonoor on Wednesday, leading to the unexpected demise of Rawat, his wife Madhulika, and 11 other officials.