New Delhi: French Ambassador Alexandre Ziegler on Thursday dismissed as “fake news” reports that a batch of Pakistani pilots were trained on Rafale fighter jets being procured by Qatari Air Force.
American aviation industry website ainonline.com had reported that the first batch of pilots trained on the Rafale fighter jet for Qatar in November 2017 were Pakistani exchange officers.”I can confirm that it is fake news,” Ziegler tweeted. French diplomatic sources said no Pakistani pilots ever trained on Rafale jets in France. There were concerns in the Indian military establishment after the website broke the ‘news’.
Incidentally, a Pakistani news portal had, in February last year, reported the visit of the Commander of the Qatar Emiri Air Force to the Pakistan Air Force Headquarters in Islamabad. Pakistan’s Air Chief had then reportedly pledged his support in the field of aviation and military training to his counterpart.Pakistani pilots getting training in the Middle East is not a new thing as they have, in the past, actively cooperated with armed forces of the region.
According to the website, Qatar signed a euro 6.3 billion agreement for the purchase of 24 Rafales (six of them two-seat trainers) in May 2015. A dozen more aircraft were added to the order in December 2017. Doha took delivery of its first Rafale on February 6. The report came in the midst of a simmering political slugfest over procurement of Rafale jets by the Modi government from France.
