Who Is Shivangi Singh, The Rafale Pilot Pakistan Lied About Capturing

President Droupadi Murmu on Wednesday met Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh, India's only woman Rafale pilot, during her sortie in the Indian Air Force fighter jet at the Ambala Air Force Station in Haryana.

The meeting comes five months after Pakistani networks falsely claimed that Singh had been captured during Operation Sindoor, India's retaliatory strike on terror camps across the border following the Pahalgam terror attack.

President Murmu shared a photograph of Squadron Leader Singh standing beside her in full flight overalls, with a Rafale in the background.

Who Is Shivangi Singh?

1. Born in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi, Shivangi Singh developed a fascination with flying after a childhood visit to the Air Force Museum in New Delhi.
2. A graduate of Banaras Hindu University (BHU), she was part of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) Air Wing, which set her on course for a career in the Indian Air Force. She joined the Air Force Academy (AFA) in Hyderabad. There, she trained rigorously before being commissioned in 2017 as part of the second batch of women fighter pilots.
3. She trained at the Air Force Academy (AFA) in Hyderabad and was commissioned into the IAF in 2017 as part of the second batch of women fighter pilots. Singh began her flying career with the MiG-21 Bison, a complex high-speed aircraft, before being selected in 2020 for the IAF's Rafale programme.
4. In 2020, Singh became the first Indian woman to fly the Rafale.
5. Currently posted with the 17 Squadron "Golden Arrows" at Ambala, the IAF's first Rafale unit, she has represented India in international exercises, including Exercise Orion 2023 in France. Singh has flown operational sorties over sensitive border zones, including eastern Ladakh and the LoC.

Pakistan's False Claims

In the aftermath of Operation Sindoor in May, Pakistan's state media and social platforms circulated fabricated reports claiming that Indian Rafales had been shot down and that a woman pilot had been captured—as part of its toolkit aimed at controlling the narrative through unfair means.

Busting that propaganda, Singh appeared all smiles today, posing next to President Droupadi Murmu in her flight overalls.