Pakistan claimed this IAF pilot was captured. Prez Murmu's Rafale sortie busts the lie

The sortie decisively quashed Pakistan’s recent propaganda that falsely claimed Singh’s capture during Operation Sindoor.

President Droupadi Murmu, on Wednesday, flew a 30-minute sortie in a Rafale fighter jet from the Ambala Air Force base, accompanied by Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh, India’s first woman Rafale pilot.

The sortie decisively quashed Pakistan’s recent propaganda that falsely claimed Singh’s capture during Operation Sindoor.

Soon after, the Centre released photographs showing President Murmu and Squadron Leader Singh standing side by side at the Ambala Air Force Station, both smiling, with a Rafale in the background. The image quickly went viral, exposing the baselessness of Pakistan’s narrative.

Singh, who hails from Varanasi, joined the IAF in 2017 as part of the second batch of women fighter pilots and transitioned to the Rafale fleet in 2020. Her name had recently appeared in Pakistani media reports that claimed India lost multiple aircraft, including a Rafale, during Operation Sindoor, the precision strikes launched to eliminate terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir following the Pahalgam terror attack.

The disinformation campaign included videos alleging that Singh had been captured near Sialkot after ejecting from her aircraft, and that Air Chief Marshal AP Singh had visited her “grief-stricken” family. However, India’s fact-checking unit swiftly debunked the claims, confirming the video was from an unrelated August 14, 2025, visit to the family of Sergeant Surendra Kumar in Rajasthan’s Jhunjhunu, a soldier who died in the line of duty during Operation Sindoor.

The IAF and the government had repeatedly dismissed Pakistan’s claims. “We achieved our objective of eliminating terrorist camps. The results are for the world to see,” Air Marshal Bharti, the IAF’s Director General of Air Operations, said in an earlier briefing. He declined to comment on operational specifics, citing security concerns, but emphasised that “no Indian pilot was missing and all aircraft returned safely.”

Meanwhile, Pakistan reportedly suffered major losses during Operation Sindoor, with Air Chief Marshal AP Singh later confirming that the Pakistani Air Force lost at least four U.S.-made F-16s, several Chinese-origin JF-17s, and an airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft.

By appearing alongside President Murmu, Squadron Leader Singh has become the face of India’s rebuttal to Pakistan’s misinformation.

“The claim that Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh was captured is entirely false,” the government’s fact-check arm reiterated on social media. “She continues to serve the nation and is performing her operational duties.”