Pakistan media reports said she had been captured. Pakistan media reports said Squadron Leader Shivani Singh was a prisoner of war, her fighter jet shot down during Operation Sindoor.
But on Wednesday morning the Squadron Leader posed with President Droupadi Murmu at Haryana’s Ambala Air Force base, all strength and smiles, after having given the latter a hands-on, first-person tour of the new Rafales, and yet another piece of Pak propaganda was busted.
The image – the Squadron Leader, in flight overalls, standing tall and proud with the President by her side and the Rafale in the background – was a powerful reminder of India’s military might.
Back in May, after India launched Op Sindoor, the military response to the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, which was carried out by Pak-based Lashkar-e-Taiba and killed 26 people, the Pak propaganda system went into overdrive, claiming assorted (and remarkable) military triumphs.
READ | Propaganda, Outright Lies: How Pak Is Ramping Up Misinformation Warfare
None of those claims, specifically that it shot shooting down six Indian military aircraft, including one of Delhi’s fresh-bought, French-made Rafale fighter jets, were even remotely true.
The military responded to each in detail, presenting reams of data and visual evidence to confirm that not only had Pak not shot down even one Indian plane, but it also lost six of its own.
The losses, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said, included at least four US-made F-16 and China’s JF-17 fighter jets, as well as a ‘big bird’, likely an AEW&C (airborne early warning and control) plane.
READ | “Pak F-16, J-17 Fighter Jets Destroyed In Op Sindoor”: Air Force Chief
Another of those claims was that Squadron Leader Singh’s plane had been disabled and she had been captured. That particular claim was circulated by multiple Pak social media handles.
There were even videos of the Air Chief Marshal ‘visiting her grief-stricken family’.
Indian Female Air Force pilot has NOT been captured🚨
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
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) May 10, 2025
India responded swiftly and the government’s fact-check wing said clearly, “Pro-Pakistan social media handles claimed an Indian female Air Force pilot, Squadron Leader Shivani Singh, has been captured in Pakistan. This claim is fake!”
The videos were found to be unrelated; it showed the Air Chief Marshal visiting the family of Sergeant Surendra Kumar, who died fighting for India during Op Sindoor.
The Air Force also confirmed she was alive and ‘performing her operational duties’.