French Ambassador refutes reports of Pak officers trained on Rafale jets

France has denied reports that Pakistani pilots under an exchange programme with Qatar were being trained to fly Rafale fighter jets. The US-based AIN Online, which tracks the aviation industry had reported in February that the first batch of pilots trained on the Rafale fighter jet for Qatar in November 2017 were Pakistani exchange officers.

New Delhi: Ambassador of France to India Alexandre Ziegler on Thursday refuted a report that Rafale fighter jets in Qatar were used to train Pakistan Officers.

"I can confirm that it is a fake news," Ziegler tweeted, putting to rest speculations that Pakistani pilots had got hands on the Rafales before they were inducted into the Indian Air Force.

• I can confirm that it is fake news. https://t.co/3XpPnfPqUc

  — Alexandre Ziegler (@FranceinIndia) April 11, 2019 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  I can confirm that it is fake news. https://t.co/3XpPnfPqUc

  — Alexandre Ziegler (@FranceinIndia) April 11, 2019

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  I can confirm that it is fake news. https://t.co/3XpPnfPqUc

  — Alexandre Ziegler (@FranceinIndia) April 11, 2019

Earlier a media report had alleged that Qatar was handed over the first lot of the Rafale fighter jets and Pakistani Exchange Officers were the first batch of officials to be trained for Qatar in November 2017.

There were concerns in the Indian military establishment after the report by the US-based website.

The report came in the midst of a simmering political slugfest over procurement of Rafale jets by the Modi government from France.

Qatar had placed two separate orders for 36 Rafale jets. The first of the aircraft was delivered in February.

The delivery of Rafale for India was expected to start by September.