President Droupadi Murmu flew a 30-minute sortie in the Rafale fighter jet from Ambala Air Force Station on Wednesday, becoming the first Indian President to fly two frontline fighter aircraft. The sortie once again focused attention on Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh, the sole woman Rafale pilot of the Indian Air Force and the officer Pakistan had falsely reported this year to have been “shot down and captured” by their forces in cross-border firing.
Minutes after concluding the sortie, President Murmu greeted Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh at the airfield. The image released by Rashtrapati Bhavan, where Murmu is seen standing with Singh in complete flight uniform in front of a Rafale aircraft, put to rest months of propaganda spread by Pakistani media. In May 2025, India conducted precision strikes on terror facilities under Operation Sindoor.
Pakistan’s state-sponsored networks and social media personalities spread out false information that an Indian Rafale was shot down and a “woman pilot” was captured. The rumour quickly circulated over the internet but was not refuted by the Indian Air Force, which declined to comment on false information.
President Droupadi Murmu took a sortie in a Rafale aircraft at Air Force Station, Ambala, Haryana. She is the first President of India to take sortie in two fighter aircrafts of the Indian Air Force. Earlier, she took a sortie in Sukhoi 30 MKI in 2023. pic.twitter.com/Rvj1ebaCou
— President of India (@rashtrapatibhvn) October 29, 2025
Singh’s public appearances by the President have now brought to an end to the story. Instead of being “captured,” she remains on active operational tasks and is one of the nation’s most recognisable faces of India’s new generation of fighter pilots.
Know more about Shivangi Singh
Shivangi Singh was born and brought up in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. Her aspiration for flying started after a childhood trip to the Air Force Museum in New Delhi. She then joined the Air Wing of the National Cadet Corps during her degree at Banaras Hindu University, where she initially learned aviation and leadership basics. She joined the Air Force Academy in Hyderabad after passing the Services Selection Board examinations and was commissioned into the Indian Air Force in 2017 as a part of the second batch of women fighter pilots.
She began her service with one of the toughest fighter jets in the world the MiG-21 Bison before being hand-selected in 2020 to be part of the Rafale programme. Her shift from the vintage MiG-21 to the state-of-the-art Rafale is a testimony to both her professional competence and the evolving nature of India’s air combat capability. She is now attached with the 17 Squadron “Golden Arrows” at Ambala, the Indian Air Force’s first Rafale squadron. She has participated in international war drills, such as Exercise Orion 2023 in France, and has operated sorties in the eastern Ladakh and Line of Control sectors.
Earlier this month, Singh accumulated another milestone on her already impressive list of achievements when she received the elite Qualified Flying Instructor badge at the Flying Instructors School in Tamil Nadu, formally becoming a trainer for prospective fighter pilots.
President Murmu, upon her sortie, had termed the Rafale flight “unforgettable” and stated that it enhanced her pride in India’s defence strength. She became the first President of India to have flown in both a Sukhoi-30 MKI and a Rafale fighter aircraft with this mission.
As for Shivangi Singh, the image of her standing confidently beside the President is more than a photo-op it is a silent yet powerful rebuttal to misinformation. Pakistan attempted to script a narrative of embarrassment for India. Instead, India answered with a Rafale, a President in the cockpit, and a pilot who remains very much in control.
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Sofia Babu Chacko is a journalist with over five years of experience covering Indian politics, crime, human rights, gender issues, and stories about marginalized communities. She believes that every voice matters, and journalism has a vital role to play in amplifying those voices. Sofia is committed to creating impact and shedding light on stories that truly matter. Beyond her work in the newsroom, she is also a music enthusiast who enjoys singing.
