The choice of women officers leading is powerful as it reflects the mark of strength and sacrifice.
India's briefing on 'Operation Sindoor' today gave a strong and significant message as two women officers - Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Colonel Sofiya Qureshi - took the lead, sharing details of the military's precision strikes on terror targets in Pakistan in response to the April 22 Pahalagam terror attack in which 26 people died.
Along with the name "Operation Sindoor" - a tribute to the women who lost their husbands in the terror attack - the choice of women officers to lead the briefing was praised as a powerful move.
"Terror targets were chosen based on credible intelligence and their involvement in cross-border terrorism. No military installation was targeted in Pakistan during 'Operation Sindoor'," Colonel Sofiya Qureshi said, speaking after Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
She also announced that nine terrorist camps were destroyed.
Wing Commander Vyomika Singh said, "India has demonstrated considerable restraint in its response. However, the India Armed Forces are fully prepared to respond to a Pakistani misadventure, if any, to escalate the situation."
Who are Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Colonel Sofiya Qureshi?
Wing Commander Vyomika Singh is a distinguished helicopter pilot in the Indian Air Force (IAF). She joined the National Cadet Corps (NCC) and later completed her engineering studies. Wing Commander Singh received a permanent commission in the flying branch on December 18, 2019. She has operated helicopters such as the 'Chetak' and 'Cheetah' in some of India's most challenging terrains, including high-altitude areas like Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast.
Wing Commander Singh has also been part of many rescue missions.
Colonel Sophia Qureshi is a decorated officer of the Indian Army's Corps of Signals. She is the first woman officer to lead an Indian Army contingent in a multinational military exercise in Pune - one of the largest foreign military exercises ever conducted on Indian soil.
Also Read | India's Operation Sindoor: 25 Minutes, 24 Missile Strikes, 9 Terror Camps, 70 Killed
India's 'Operation Sindoor'
India carried out 24 missile strikes across nine locations - Muzaffarabad, Kotli, Bahawalpur, Rawalakot, Chakswari, Bhimber, Neelum Valley, Jhelum, and Chakwa - in Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir, killing 70 terrorists and injuring another 60, to avenge the Pahalgam terror attack under 'Operation Sindoor'. According to government sources, the attack was more than a military response.
"It was a statement of strategic resolve. Through 24 precisely coordinated missile strikes across nine terrorist-linked locations, India demonstrated that it would no longer tolerate cross-border terrorism, nor the complicity of state institutions that enable it," a source said.
The attack began at 1.05 am Wednesday, May 6, and lasted just 25 minutes. During this time, nine terror camps and training facilities were targeted with stand-off munitions like the HAMMER bomb and the SCALP missile, as well as others that can hover over an area to confirm its target before detonating. According to the government, the attacks were synchronised to avoid detection and maximise damage.
India's military response represented a "measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible" answer to Pakistan's support of cross-border terrorism, the government said.
Pakistan, in response, resorted to 'arbitrary and indiscriminate firing' and artillery shelling across the LoC, killing 10 civilians in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch sector. Those killed include a 12-year-old girl and a 10-year-old boy, the Army said.
