When President Droupadi Murmu flew in a Rafale fighter jet at the Ambala airbase on Wednesday morning, it wasn't just a photo-op but carried a pointed message to Pakistan, particularly her posing with Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh.

When India hit terror bases in Pakistan in May, Islamabad's narrative-spinners and media had claimed to have captured Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh who pilots Rafales. That had immediately turned out to be humbug.

On October 29, it was the Varanasi-born Squadron Leader Singh who gave President Murmu a tour of the new Rafale multi-role fighter at the Indian Air Force (IAF) base in Haryana.

In May, when India launched Operation Sindoor — a military response to the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam by Pak-based Lashkar-e-Taiba that killed 26 people — claims from Pakistan ranged from downing Indian jets, including Rafale, and holding Indian soldiers as “prisoners of war”.

The Indian military and the Narendra Modi government shot these claims down. After sending a strong message by killing a large number of terrorists, India chose to effect a truce upon Pakistan's request, they said.

They also provided data and visuals to say that Pakistan lost six planes in fact. Air Chief Marshal AP Singh said Pakistan's losses included four US-made F-16 and China-provided JF-17 fighter jets.