President Murmu Poses With IAF Pilot Shivangi Singh, Busts Pakistan’s Fake Capture Claim
President Murmu Poses With IAF Pilot Shivangi Singh, Busts Pakistan’s Fake Capture Claim
Government’s fact-check wing confirms claims by pro-Pakistan handles about the Rafale pilot being captured are fake.
Pakistan’s latest propaganda attempt was decisively debunked on Wednesday after President Droupadi Murmu posed with Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh, India’s first woman Rafale fighter pilot, at the Ambala Air Force base in Haryana. The image — the President and the Varanasi-born pilot standing together before a Rafale jet — came as a powerful rebuttal to Pakistan media reports that falsely claimed the officer had been captured during Operation Sindoor.
Following India’s counter-terror operation in Pahalgam, which targeted Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba militants responsible for the killing of 26 people, Pakistan’s propaganda machinery had gone into overdrive. It circulated baseless claims that several Indian aircraft, including Rafales, had been shot down, and that Squadron Leader Singh had been captured as a “prisoner of war.”
On Wednesday morning, however, Shivangi Singh greeted President Murmu with a confident smile, giving her a hands-on tour of the Rafale multirole fighter aircraft. The moment, captured on camera, reflected India’s air power and the resilience of its armed forces, while simultaneously dismantling Pakistan’s fabricated claims.
⚠️Propaganda Alert!
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) May 7, 2025
Beware of old images shared by pro-Pakistan handles in the present context!
An #old image showing a crashed aircraft is being circulated with the claim that Pakistan recently shot down an Indian Rafale jet near Bahawalpur during the ongoing #OperationSindoor… pic.twitter.com/LdkJ1JYuH0
India’s Press Information Bureau’s fact-check wing swiftly clarified:
“Pro-Pakistan social media handles claimed that Indian Air Force pilot Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh has been captured in Pakistan. This claim is fake.”
Videos circulated by Pakistani accounts showing the Air Chief Marshal “visiting her grieving family” were also exposed as fake. The footage, in reality, showed the Air Chief Marshal visiting the family of Sergeant Surendra Kumar, who had died fighting for India during Operation Sindoor.
Indian Female Air Force pilot has NOT been captured🚨
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) May 10, 2025
Pro-Pakistan social media handles claim that an Indian Female Air Force pilot, Squadron Leader Shivani Singh, has been captured in Pakistan.#PIBFactCheck
❌ This claim is FAKE!#IndiaFightsPropaganda@MIB_India… pic.twitter.com/V8zovpSRYk
The Indian Air Force reaffirmed that Squadron Leader Singh, mentored by Group Captain Abhinandan Varthaman, who was captured by Pakistan in 2019 and returned to India as a hero continues to perform her operational duties.
Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh also confirmed that Pakistan’s claims of shooting down six Indian aircraft were completely false. On the contrary, Pakistan lost at least six of its own aircraft, including four US-made F-16s, one JF-17, and a ‘big bird’ AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System).
The powerful image of President Murmu and Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh not only celebrated the growing strength and inclusivity of the Indian Air Force but also stood as a visible testament to India’s truth and Pakistan’s lies.
