Bordeaux: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday becomes the first Indian minister to take a sortie in Rafale fighter aircraft in Mérignac of France.
Before this, Mr Singh received the first of 36 aircraft here.
The minister was flown by Philippe Duchateau, the head test pilot of Dassault Aviation.
Talking to reporters here, Mr Singh said, “It was a life time experience for me. There was comfortable flying.”
Post receiving aircraft, he performed “shashtrapuja” on the occasion of Dusshera which also coincides with the 87th Air Force Day being celebrated in India.
This was Rajnath’s second sortie in a fighter jet in a span of less than 30 days.
Earlier, he undertook a sortie in the indigenously developed LCA Tejas in Bengaluru.
Rajnath became the first Indian minister to fly in the Rafale fighter jet which is set to soar in the Indian skies by May 2020.
After receiving the first Rafale, Rajnath called it a new milestone in Indo-French defence cooperation and said, “I am happy that the delivery of Rafale aircraft is on schedule, I am confident that this will add further strength to our Air Force. I wish cooperation between our two major democracies further increases in all sectors.”
Earlier in the day, Rajnath met French President Emmanuel Macron and held discussions on strengthening India-France defence and strategic ties.
Ahead of his talks with Macron, Mr Singh also held discussions with French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly.
