Wednesday, 29 October 2025
Wednesday, 29 October 2025
President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday met Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh, India’s first woman Rafale pilot, during the President’s sortie in fighter jet at the Air Force Station in Ambala, Haryana.
The photograph blew to smithereens Pakistani influencers’ claim during Operation Sindoor that an Indian Rafale had been shot down near Sialkot and that the pilot, Shivangi Singh, had been captured.
The choice of the Ambala air base was also strategic, as it was from this airbase that Indian fighter jets took off to bomb terrorist camps in Pakistan in May this year.
Pakistan’s claims about the woman pilot were widely shared on social media but stood exposed on Wednesday when Squadron Leader Singh was seen at the Ambala airbase, accompanying Murmu during the President’s flight in a Rafale fighter jet.
Before taking off, the President was accorded a ceremonial guard of honour at the base. Wearing a G-suit and holding her helmet, Murmu posed for pictures with pilots, including Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh.
The President waved from inside the jet shortly before it took off at 11.27am. Air Chief Marshal A. P. Singh also flew in a separate aircraft from the same airbase.
Following the sortie, President Murmu wrote on X, “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.”
Rafale jets, manufactured by French aerospace major Dassault Aviation, were formally inducted into the Indian Air Force in September 2020 at Ambala’s Air Force Station.
The first five aircraft, arriving from France in July that year, became part of 17 Squadron, the Golden Arrows.
The aircraft played a critical role in Operation Sindoor, launched by India on May 7 in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. The mission targeted terror infrastructure across the border and continued for four days, concluding on May 10 after an understanding to halt military actions.
This was not President Murmu’s first combat aircraft sortie. In April 2023, she flew in a Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet from Tezpur Air Force Station in Assam. Former Presidents A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil had also undertaken similar sorties in 2006 and 2009, respectively.
