Claim: Opposition parties questioned the government on the capture of Indian Air Force pilot Shivangi Singh by Pakistan during Operation Sindoor.
Fact: Shivangi Singh was never mentioned in the debates, and both the Pakistani and Indian governments have denied news of her capture.
On 28 July 2025, the X (formerly Twitter) account IronClad posted (archive):
“#BREAKING: Indian opposition asked why Rafale pilot Shivangi Singh is missing since May, no response from Modi govt.”
Shivangi Singh
Shivangi Singh is a Squadron Leader in the Indian Air Force (IAF) and became the first and only woman in India to fly a Rafale fighter jet, according to France24. Commissioned into the IAF in 2017 as part of its second batch of female fighter pilots, she previously flew the MiG-21 Bison before transitioning to the more advanced French-made Rafale jets, which are considered a major component of India’s frontline combat fleet.
Debate on Operation Sindoor
On 28 and 29 July 2025, two marathon debates were held on Operation Sindoor, India’s May 2025 military offensive in Pakistan. The debates were held in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the bicameral parliament of India, and the Rajya Sabha, the upper house. The 28 July debate held in the Lok Sabha was between the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the opposition, led by Rahul Gandhi, who is the 12th and current leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha.
It ran on for about 16 hours with vigorous questions from the opposition, including why the military operation was stopped and if US President Donald Trump really played a role in the subsequent ceasefire.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check conducted a keyword search but found no reports by credible outlets that confirmed the Indian opposition questioned the government on Shivangi Singh’s capture. We further scoured social media platforms for any viral clips or videos of the opposition raising this concern, but found none.
As the claims were posted on 28 July, the debate being referenced is likely the one held in the Lok Sabha led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for the NDA and by Rahul Gandhi for the opposition.
Soch Fact Check searched online for an uninterrupted live-stream of the 28 July debate but only found videos that covered hours-long sections of the discussion. These videos stretch from five hours to nine hours, with some overlapping, which helped ensure continuity. However, Soch Fact Check found no mention of Shivangi Singh in any of the videos.
In order to get a better understanding of the debate, we carefully reconstructed the chronology of speakers, as listed below:
- Defense Minister Rajanth Singh opened the debate with an impassioned speech calling the operation historic, and stating it was conducted with precision and lasted only 22 minutes. He hailed the operation as a “decisive and effective demonstration” of India’s commitment to protecting its sovereignty.
- The next speaker was from the Opposition, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi, as he was announced at the 54:42 minute mark, immediately after Singh completed his speech. Gogoi questioned the Defense Minister on several key points, including how the attack happened in the first place, how many aircraft were lost, if any, and why India agreed to a ceasefire.
- Following Gogoi, Sri Ramashankar Rajbhar, a member of parliament (MP) from the Samajwadi Party and Uttar Pradesh, spoke at the 1:21:18 mark. In his speech, Rajbhar derided the government for a slow response to the attack, and questioned US President Donald Trump’s claim that he helped broker the ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
- After Rajbhar spoke, Kaylan Banarjee from the Trinamool Congress party spoke at the 1:33:48 mark. Banarjee led a scathing critique of Modi’s behaviour, with Trump, asking him why he failed to correct the US president’s claims both on social media and in person, if the latterPresident indeed played no role in the ceasefire.
- Then Lavu Sri Krishna Devarayalu of the Telugu Desam party spoke, as he is seen being announced at the 31:58 mark after Banarjee finished his speech. Devarayalu called the Pahalgam attack an “assault on the soul of India” and described Operation Sindoor as an ethical and necessary response. He spoke about Pakistan’s role in terrorism and India’s need to leverage its international standing and domestic development to fight terrorism and protect its sovereignty.
The debate, which lasted all day, then continued with the following speakers:
- Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Cabinet Minister of Panchayati Raj, Janata Dal (United), 42:01
- Arvind Ganpat Sawant, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Shiv Sena (UBT), 1:12:00
- Amar Sharadrao Kale, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Nationalist Congress Party (SP), 1:28:57
- Baijayant Panda, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Bharatiya Janata Party, 1:39:56
- Deepender Singh Hooda, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Indian National Congress, 2:13:41
- Shambhavi, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), 2:29:59
- Abhay Kumar Sinha, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Rashtriya Janata Dal, 2:39:56
- Y. S. Avinash Reddy, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, YSR Congress Party, 2:47:02
- Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Minister of External Affairs, Bharatiya Janata Party, 2:52:04
- Mian Altaf Ahmad, Member of Legislative Assembly, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, 3:31:20
- Chhotelal, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Samajwadi Party, 3:40:11
- Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Bharatiya Janata Party, 3:47:05
- Tejasvi Surya, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Bharatiya Janata Party, 3:47:43
- Praniti Sushilkumar Shinde, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Indian National Congress, 4:06:08
- Sunil Dattatrey Tatkare, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Nationalist Congress Party, 4:13:04
- Supriya Sule, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Nationalist Congress Party, 4:23:09
- Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Bharatiya Janata Party, 4:37:02
- S. Venkatesan, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Communist Party of India, 5:11:30
- Dileshwar Kamait, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Janata Dal (United), 5:20:37
- M. Mallesh Babu, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Janata Dal (Secular), 5:27:40
- Raja Ram Singh, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Communist Party of India, 5:31:20
- Dr. Rajkumar Sangwan, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Rashtriya Lok Dal, 5:37:47
- Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Indian National Congress, 5:44:10
- Asaduddin Owaisi, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen, 5:57:29
- Adv. K. Francis George, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Kerala Congress, 6:07:57
- Adv. Chandrashekhar, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Aazad Samaj Party, 6:16:11
- N.K. Premachandran, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Revolutionary Socialist Party (Kerala), 6:25:47
- Thol Thirumavalavan, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi, 6:35:33
- Dilip Saikia, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Bharatiya Janata Party, 6:43:55
- Hanuman Beniwal, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, 6:58:04
- Balashowry Vallabhaneni, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Janasena Party, 7:06:20
- Umeshbhai Babubhai Patel, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Independent, 7:10:18
- Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi, Member of Legislative Assembly, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference, 7:14:20
- Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Independent, 7:20:35
- Durai Vaiko, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, 7:29:40
- Dharmendra Yadav, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Samajwadi Party, 7:34:24
- Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance, Bharatiya Janata Party, 7:40:55
- Jugal Kishore, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Bharatiya Janata Party, 7:42:30
- Brijendra Singh Ola, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Indian National Congress, 7:50:31
- Mohmad Haneefa, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Independent, 8:02:04
- Raj Kumar Roat, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Bharat Adivasi Party, 8:09:28
- Vishaldada Prakashbapu Patil, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Independent, 8:14:47
- Kamaljeet Sehrawat, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Bharatiya Janata Party, 8:20:09
- Gurjeet Singh Aujla, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Indian National Congress, 8:29:33
- Saumitra Khan, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Bharatiya Janata Party, 8:38:22
- Manoj Kumar, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Indian National Congress, 8:42:20
- Anand Bhadauria, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Samajwadi Party, 8:50:10
- Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Indian National Congress, 8:54:23
- Lovely Anand, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Janata Dal (United), 9:05:18
- Shafi Parambil, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Indian National Congress, 9:10:40.
Shafi Parambil gave the last speech of the day at 12:51 am after which the session was adjourned and resumed on the morning of 29 July 2025. While speakers raised concerns about several issues, including Pakistan’s terrorism threat, China, the need to bolster the domestic production of weapons, Trump’s claims that he brokered the ceasefire, and the delayed response to the terror attacks, among other things, Soch Fact Check found no mention of Shivangi Singh or any captured pilot.
The claim that Pakistan ever captured Shivangi Singh during Operation Sindoor is also unsubstantiated.
Both countries have officially denied claims of Singh’s capture as well. Soon after the ceasefire between India and Pakistan in May, the Director General of Inter-Services Public Relations (DG ISPR) addressed the issue and denied this claim. At a press conference on 11 May, DG ISPR spokesperson General Sharif Chaudhry explicitly stated, at the 0:57 mark, “We don’t have any pilot in custody,” and dismissed the claim as a rumor spread via social media.
Additionally, PIB Fact Check, the Indian government’s fact-check outlet run by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), posted a denial of this claim on X on 10 May, writing:
🚨 Indian Female Air Force pilot has NOT been captured
Pro-Pakistan social media handles claim that an Indian Female Air Force pilot, Squadron Leader Shivangi Singh, has been captured in Pakistan.
❌ This claim is FAKE!
#IndiaFightsPropaganda #PIBFactCheck
During the war, Pakistan claimed to have downed at least three of the French-made Rafale jets operated by the Indian Air Force, and a total of five jets. French intelligence officials later confirmed to CNN that at least one Rafale jet was shot down.
While initially the Indian government denied this claim, CNN reported that India’s military tacitly acknowledged that aircrafts were lost writing, “Anil Chauhan, the chief of defense staff of the Indian Armed Forces, initially denied the veracity of the claim… but he went on to say that “what is important is why they went down,” seeming to imply that a number of jets were shot down during fighting between the historic foes”.
Significantly, during this debate, opposition forces questioned the government on aircraft losses. Kalambattuparambil Francis George, a member of the Kerala Congress and the 18th Lok Sabha, noted that satellite leaks, international intelligence, and Indian defense attaches seemingly confirmed Pakistan’s claim that five jets were shot down. Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi also mentioned the lost aircrafts stating, “if you had listened to me here, you would not have lost those five planes.”
Additionally, when asked by the opposition how many jets were lost, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stated, “The Opposition sometimes asks about planes shot down. Their question does not represent India’s sentiments.”
These acknowledgements of previously denied information appear to have fueled social media posts claiming that other viral rumors, such as the alleged capture of Shivani Singh, were also confirmed by the opposition. However, Soch Fact Check found no evidence that Singh was ever captured, nor that her name was mentioned at any point during the parliamentary debate.
Virality
Soch Fact Check found the claim on X here, here, and here.
Conclusion: During the Indian parliamentary debate on Operation Sindoor, opposition parties made no mention of the Indian Air Force pilot Shivangi Singh, nor did they question the government on her capture. Moreover, Pakistani and Indian governments said in May 2025 that Shivangi Singh was never captured during the military operation.
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