The Lok Sabha on Thursday paid tributes to Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and 12 others who died in a helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu.
The members also stood in silence for a brief while as a mark of respect for the departed souls.
As soon as the House met for the day, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh made a statement on the crash, and said that an inquiry has started into the incident. He also paid tributes to the deceased.
Paying tributes, Speaker Om Birla said that Rawat had worked a lot towards bringing in reforms in the system and would be remembered for his dedication.
13 of the 14 people on board the helicopter died in the crash near Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.
Group Captain Varun Singh, who survived the crash, is on life support at a Wellington hospital.
As a mark of respect towards General Rawat and other deceased, the Opposition leaders called off their ongoing sit-in protest against the suspension of the 12 Rajya Sabha MPs for the day.
Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Upper House Mallikarjun Kharge told ANI on Thursday, "We have decided not to protest, against the suspension of 12 Rajya Sabha MPs, today in honour of CDS General Bipin Rawat and the soldiers who died in the chopper crash and to pay tribute to them.
"We will also attend Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's address."
Shiv Sena's Priyanka Chaturvedi, who is one of the 12 suspended MPs, said, "We have called off the protest today."
'As a mark of respect to late CDS and other jawans who lost their lives in chopper crashed we have suspended our dharna for today and will resume tomorrow,' a statement issued by the Congress read.
-- with ANI inputs
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