Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 29: In a bid to show to the world how Pakistan was lying about its “success” over India during the “Operation Sindoor,” the President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday took a photograph with an air force officer who the Pakistani media had claimed was “captured” by the Pakistani army and was held as a “Prisoner of War” after her Rafale fighter jet shot down.
On Wednesday morning the Varanasi-born Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh posed with President Murmu at Haryana’s Ambala Air Force base, all strength and smiles, after having given the latter a hands-on tour of the new Rafale multi-role fighter busting yet another piece of Pak propaganda. Pakistani media had then claimed that Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh was being held in Pakistan as a PoW.
The image – the Squadron Leader in flight overalls standing tall and proud with the President by her side and the Rafale in the background – spoke volumes about India’s military might and Pak’s lies.
Back in May, after India launched Op Sindoor, the military response to the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which was carried out by Pak-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and killed 26 people, the Pak propaganda system went into overdrive, claiming assorted (and remarkable) military triumphs.
One of these claims was that Squadron Leader Singh’s plane had been disabled and she had been captured. That particular claim was circulated by multiple Pak social media handles. There were even videos of the Air Chief Marshal ‘visiting her grief-stricken family’.
None of those claims, specifically that it shot down six Indian military aircraft, including one of the fresh-bought and expensive French-made Rafale fighter jets, were even remotely true. The Indian army and the government had responded in detail nailing the Pakistani lies and presenting reams of data and visual evidence to confirm that not only had Pak not shot down even one Indian plane, but it also lost six of its own. The losses, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said, included at least four US-made F-16 and China’s JF-17 fighter jets, as well as a ‘big bird’, likely an AEW&C (airborne early warning and control) plane.
India responded swiftly and the government’s fact-check wing said clearly, “Pro-Pakistan social media handles claimed an Indian female Air Force pilot, Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh, has been captured in Pakistan. This claim is fake!” The videos were found to be unrelated; it showed the Air Chief Marshal visiting the family of Sergeant Surendra Kumar, who died fighting for India during Op Sindoor.
The Air Force also confirmed Singh – the first female Indian fighter jet pilot to fly the Rafale, and who was reportedly mentored by Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured by Pakistan earlier and returned a hero, was alive and ‘performing her operational duties.’
On Wednesday, Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal AP Singh flew a Rafale fighter jet over Ambala leading a formation sortie that also saw President Droupadi Murmu experience the aircraft for the first time as she flew in a Rafale piloted by Group Captain Amit Gehani, Commanding Officer of the 17 Squadron, President Murmu waved from inside the jet before the aircraft took off at 11.27 am.
The sortie lasted for approximately 30 minutes, covering about 200 kilometres before returning to the Air Force Station in Ambala. The fighter jet flew at a height of about 15,000 ft above sea level and at a speed of about 700 kilometres per hour, a statement issued by the President’s office said.
Later in the visitor’s book, the President expressed her feelings by writing a brief note in which she said: “I am delighted to visit Air Force Station Ambala for my maiden flight on Rafale aircraft of the Indian Air Force.”
“The sortie on Rafale is an unforgettable experience for me. This first flight on the potent Rafale aircraft has instilled in me a renewed sense of pride in the nation’s defence capabilities. I congratulate the Indian Air Force and the entire team of Air Force Station, Ambala for organising this sortie successfully,” Ms Murmu said.
Earlier, on April 8, 2023, the President had flew in a Sukhoi Su-30MKI fighter jet from Tezpur Air Force Station in Assam and has becoming the first President of India to have taken sortie in two fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force.
Before getting on to the Rafale jet, the President wore a G-suit and sun glasses. She posed for pictures with the pilot while holding a helmet in her hand. Upon her arrival at the air base in the morning, President Murmu was accorded a ceremonial guard of honour. The President was also briefed on the operational capabilities of Rafale and the Indian Air Force.
Former Presidents A.P.J Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil had undertaken sorties in Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft at the Air Force Station, Lohegaon near Pune on June 8, 2006 and November 25, 2009, respectively.
Manufactured by French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, Rafale fighter aircraft were formally inducted into the Indian Air Force in September 2020 at the Air Force Station, Ambala. The first five Rafale aircraft, which had arrived from France on July 27, 2020, were inducted in 17 Squadron, the ‘Golden Arrows.’