Operation Sindoor: Col Sofiya Qureshi, Wg Cdr Vyomika Singh make history leading briefing on India’s cross-border strike

For the first time in history, two senior women officers—Colonel Sofiya Qureshi of the Indian Army and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh of the Indian Air Force—joined Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to front the press briefing in the wake of India's Operation Sindoor, launched earlier today in response to the deadly Pahalgam attacks. 

The two senior officers outlined the key objectives and outcomes of Operation Sindoor, India’s retaliatory strike targeting terror infrastructure across the border. The choice to have two women officers front the briefing on a major counter-terror operation was deliberate — and significant.

The operation, carried out in the early hours of May 7, involved coordinated precision strikes by tri-services—the Army, the Navy and the Air Force. Nine terrorist camps located in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) were destroyed.

"Terror targets were chosen based on credible intelligence and their involvement in cross-border terrorism so that the spine of terror activities could be broken. No military installation was targeted in Pakistan during Operation Sindoor," said Colonel Qureshi during her address.

India’s government described the strike as “measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible.” The choice of Colonel Qureshi and Wing Commander Singh to lead the briefing, alongside the foreign secretary, was also seen as a pointed message. Women's roles in India's armed forces have expanded significantly over the last decade. From frontline combat aviation to commanding troops on the ground, women are no longer on the periphery—they are integral to operations, planning, and execution.

The operation’s name, Sindoor, carried its own weight. Traditionally worn by married Hindu women, sindoor symbolises commitment and sacrifice. A deliberate reference to the April 22 Pahalgam massacre—honouring  the widows left behind after the Pahalgam attack, where the victims were singled out for their faith.

Speaking on the scale of Pakistan’s terror infrastructure, Wing Commander Singh said, “Over the last three decades, Pakistan has systematically built terror infrastructure. It is a complex web of recruitment and indoctrination centres, training areas for initial and refresher courses, and launch pads for handlers.” She added, “India is ready to deal with any misadventure by Pakistan.”

Wing Commander Singh, a distinguished helicopter pilot, received her permanent commission in the Indian Air Force’s flying branch in 2019. Colonel Qureshi, from the Army’s Corps of Signals, made history as the first woman officer to lead an Indian Army contingent in a multinational military exercise—one of the largest foreign military exercises ever conducted on Indian soil.

The April 22 attack in Pahalgam has drawn sharp condemnation from the Indian leadership, with Operation Sindoor being seen as a message that the country would not only defend its borders but would do so with the strength of all its citizens—men and women alike—standing shoulder to shoulder.