Amidst an outpour of grief, India today bade farewell to its first chief of defence staff and the country's senior-most military officer Gen Bipin Rawat and his wife Madhulika who died along with 11 others in a helicopter crash two days ago.

Bangladesh's Lt Gen Waker-uz-Zaman, principal staff officer to the Armed Forces Division, was among the senior foreign military commanders who joined the funeral procession as the gun carriage with the body of Gen Rawat moved out of his official residence at Kamraj Marg and headed to the Brar Square crematorium in Delhi Cantonment late this afternoon, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

The other foreign military commanders who joined Rawat's final journey were Gen Chief of Defence Staff of Sri Lanka Shavendra Silva, Deputy Chief Operations Officer of Royal Bhutan Army Brig Dorji Rinchen, and Chief of General Staff of Nepal Lt Gen Bal Krishna Karki.

Earlier this morning, Bangladesh's High Commissioner Md Imran went to the residence of Gen Rawat to pay tribute.

Gen Rawat was accorded a 17-gun salute.

About 800 Indian defence services personnel took part in the cremation ceremony as Gen Rawat's daughters Kritika and Tarini lit the funeral pyre.

Hundreds of people from various walks of life, politicians across party lines, religious leaders, diplomats and the chiefs of Indian army, air force, and navy paid their last respects.

Indian Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, among others, paid tributes to Gen Rawat and his wife.

Rawat and his wife were among the 13 people who lost their lives in an Indian Air Force chopper crash on a forested hill in southern state Tamil Nadu's Coonnor this week.

The bodies of Gen Rawat, his wife and the defence personnel killed in the crash were flown to Delhi last night.

The army has said so far only the bodies of Gen Rawat, his wife and another senior officer Brig Lidder could be positively identified and the process of identifying the other victims was ongoing.