President Murmu poses with Rafale's first woman pilot Shivangi Singh, who Pakistan once claimed was captured

Shivangi Singh, the country's first woman Rafale fighter jet pilot, was claimed to have been captured during 'Operation Sindoor' by pro-Pakistan social media handles.

Ambala: As President Droupadi Murmu took a historic sortie in Indian Air Force's Rafale fighter jets on Wednesday, October 29, one moment that grabbed spotlight was a photograph of the President along with Squadron leader Shivangi Singh.

Singh, the country's first woman Rafale fighter jet pilot, was claimed to have been captured during 'Operation Sindoor' by pro-Pakistan social media handles.

The Press Information Bureau (PIB) Fact Check had on May 10 called out this claim as fake.

The Rafale jets were used in Operation Sindoor, which was launched on May 7 to destroy several terror infrastructures in territories controlled by Pakistan, in response to the April 22 dastardly terrorist attack in Pahalgam.

The strikes triggered four days of intense clashes that ended with an understanding on stopping the military actions on May 10.

The Rashtrapati Bhavan issued a picture of the President posing with Singh, atop a ladder used in boarding or deboarding an aircraft.

The President took a sortie in a Rafale aircraft at Air Force Station, Ambala (Haryana) on Wednesday, according to a statement issued by her office.

Murmu is the first President of India to have taken sortie in two fighter aircrafts of the Indian Air Force. Earlier, she took a sortie in Sukhoi 30 MKI in 2023.