As President Droupadi Murmu became the first Indian head of state to fly in the Rafale aircraft, a notable moment saw her alongside an Indian Air Forece (IAF) pilot Pakistan falsely said it had captured in Operation Sindoor.

On Wednesday, Murmu, the Supreme Commander of the Indian armed forces, took a half-hour sortie in a Rafale aircraft from the Air Force Station in Haryana's Ambala.

Ahead of the exercise, she posed with Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh just before taking to the skies. Singh, the country’s first woman Rafale fighter jet pilot, was claimed to have been captured during Operation Sindoor by a pro-Pakistan social media handle. The Press Information Bureau (PIB) Fact Check had on 10 May dismissed the claim as fake.

The Rashtrapati Bhavan released a photograph of the president posing with Singh atop a ladder used for boarding and deboarding the aircraft.

The Rafale jets were used in Operation Sindoor, launched on May 7 to destroy terror infrastructure in Pakistan-controlled territories, following the April 22 terrorist attack in Pahalgam. The strikes triggered four days of clashes that ended with a cessation of hostilities on May 10.

Before the sortie, the President was given a guard of honour and briefed on the Rafale’s operational capabilities. Wearing a G-suit and sunglasses, Murmu was seen posing for pictures and flashing a thumbs-up gesture before the French-made jet, flown by Group Captain Amit Gehani, Commanding Officer of 17 Squadron, took off at 11:27 am.

The sortie lasted about 30 minutes, covering roughly 200 kilometres, and reached a height of about 15,000 feet above sea level and a speed of approximately 700 kilometres per hour, according to the President’s office.

IAF Chief Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh also flew a Rafale fighter jet from the same fleet, leading a formation sortie in coordination with the aircraft carrying the President.

Upon landing, the President shared her delight in the visitor’s book, saying, “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.”

Notably, Murmu made history as the first president to fly in two different IAF fighter aircraft. She had earlier undertaken a sortie in a Sukhoi-30 MKI in April 2023 from Tezpur, Assam.

President Murmu's flight follows in the footsteps of former Presidents who have flown in fighter jets, starting with APJ Abdul Kalam (Sukhoi 30 MKI) on June 8, 2006, and Pratibha Patil (Sukhoi 30 MKI) on November 25, 2009.

Manufactured by Dassault Aviation, Rafale jets were formally inducted into the IAF's 17 Squadron, the 'Golden Arrows', in September 2020 at the Ambala Air Force Station. The first five Rafale aircraft, which had arrived from France on July 27, 2020, were inducted into the Squadron.