IAF Pilot Shivangi Singh, Who Pakistan Once Claimed Was Captured, Poses With President Murmu

President Droupadi Murmu with Shivangi Singh.

President Droupadi Murmu, who took a 30-minute sortie in a Rafale fighter jet on Wednesday, posed with Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh at Haryana’s Ambala Air Force base, dealing a massive blow to Pakistan’s agenda that the latter’s fighter jet had been shot down during Operation Sindoor and she had been taken prisoner of war.

Singh, India’s first and only female Rafale pilot, hails from Uttar Pradesh’s Varanasi and was commissioned in the Indian Air Force in 2017 as part of IAF’s second batch of women fighter pilots. She was then shortlisted as a Rafale pilot in 2020, and on Wednesday, puncturing holes in Pakistan’s claims, she gave a hands-on, first-person tour of the new Rafales to the President.

Her name was back in the headlines during Operation Sindoor—India’s precision strikes to eliminate terror hubs in Pakistan and PoK in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack—when Pakistan claimed that India had lost several fighter jets, including a Rafale, and Singh had been captured near Sialkot after ejecting from her aircraft that was shot down.

Another video went viral a few days ago, claiming that IAF Chief, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, had visited Singh’s residence. However, the government quickly refuted the claim, with the fact-check wing clarifying on X that the footage was from August 14, 2025, when AP Singh had visited the family of the late Sergeant Surendra Kumar in Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan, who lost his life in the line of duty during Operation Sindoor.

The government had also cleared the air on Pakistan’s claims during the media briefings on Op Sindoor, with Indian Air Force’s Director General of Air Operations (DGAO) Air Marshal Bharti saying the forces had achieved their objectives and all the pilots were back home.

“We are in a combat scenario; losses are a part of combat. The question you must ask us is… have we achieved our objective of decimating the terrorist camps? And the answer is a thumping yes. And the results are for the whole world to see,” he had said. “As for the details, what could have been… how many numbers… which platform did we lose… at this time I would not like to comment on that because we are still in a combat situation. If I comment on anything, it will only be advantageous. So, we don’t want to give him any advantage at this stage,” he had added.