Five French-made multirole Rafales were inducted on September 10 into the Indian Air Force's "Golden Arrows" Squadron at the Ambala Air Force Station. It is the country's oldest Air Force base built-in 1919. A Rafale fighter jet flew above the airbase as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his French counterpart Florence Parly watched it from afar. Along with the Rafale, other fighter jets including the Russian-origin Sukhoi-30MKIs participated in the flypast. The first batch of five Rafales is being inducted at a time when India is engaged in an escalating border row with China in eastern Ladakh. "New bird in the arsenal of IAF," the Air Force tweeted on the morning of September 10. “Today, this induction sends a strong message to those who have raised an eye at us. This induction is very crucial, considering the border situation” Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister, India said. Singh added that induction of Rafale is a strong message for the world. Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria and Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar also attended the ceremony. First batch of five Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29, nearly four years after India signed an inter-governmental agreement with France to buy 36 jets for ₹ 59,000 crore. 10 Rafale jets have been delivered to India so far and five of them stayed back in France for training IAF pilots. Delivery of all 36 aircraft is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2021.
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