Two disparate events marked the month. One, the first batch of Rafale fighters which had arrived in India in July, were formally inducted in a suitably dazzling ceremony at Air Force station Ambala on September 10. Present at the ceremony, along with the who’s who of the Indian Air Force (IAF) were defence minister Rajnath Singh, French defence minister Florence Parly and the chairperson of Dassault Aviation Eric Trappier. Immediately, the media went to town saying that China must behave, now that India has got the Rafales.

In the second event of the month, China refused to be