Indian President Droupadi Murmu has taken off from the Ambala Air Force Base in Haryana for a sortie in a Rafale fighter jet that recently made its war debut.

Five months ago, when India launched Operation Sindoor to avenge the Pahalgam attack, Rafales from this airbase had taken off with a mission to destroy terror camps across the border, delivering New Delhi’s anti-terror message.

Dressed in an anti-gravity suit, Murmu stepped into the cockpit with a confident smile before the French-made aircraft whizzed beyond the fog.

This is the second fighter jet sortie for the president.

The Supreme Commander of India’s Armed Forces had flown in a Sukhoi-30 MKI jet at the Tezpur Air Force Station, Assam on April 8, 2023, becoming the third president and the second woman head of state to do so. Before Murmu, former presidents APJ Abdul Kalam and Pratibha Patil had flown in the Sukhoi-30 MKI at Lohegaon near Pune.

This is the first time an Indian president is flying the Rafale, manufactured by French aerospace giant Dassault Aviation. Rafales joined the Indian Air Force’s fleet in 2020 at the Ambala airbase. These are part of the 17 Squadron, the ‘Golden Arrows’.

The French-made jets made their war debut during the post-Pahalgam operations in May. Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7 to avenge the deaths of 26 civilians in Pahalgam, with precision strikes conducted by Rafale jets on terror targets deep inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The strikes led to intense border firing, with Pakistan finally pleading for a ceasefire on May 10.

Source: NDTV

--Agencies