French authorities have denied an Indian media report claiming that Pakistani pilots have trained on Rafale aircraft sold to Qatar. According to Jon Lake, the author of the piece, “Escadron de Chasse 04.030 was established at Mont-de-Marsan as the Qatar Rafale Squadron on Oct 1, 2017,” NDTV said. In a press statement, Dassault had said Qatar had signed up for 24 Rafale fighters in May 2015. NDTV said Pakistani military personnel have been deputed to operate with the armed forces of several Middle Eastern countries for decades. India’s deal with France to buy the Rafale from Dassault Aviation has been mired in controversy over alleged wrongdoings and crony capitalism.

Source: Pakistan Today April 12, 2019 12:45 UTC