The Indian Army launched a counter-offensive operation named “Operation Sindhoor” in response to the terrorist attack carried out by Pakistani militants in Pahalgam.
In this operation, 9 terrorist camps located in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir were destroyed. These included 4 targets linked to the Jaish-e-Mohammed group, 3 associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba, and 2 connected to Hizbul Mujahideen. The Indian Army clarified that no strikes were carried out on Pakistani military infrastructure and no harm was caused to civilians.
The successful execution of Operation Sindhoor has garnered widespread appreciation for the Indian Armed Forces.
Colonel Sophia Qureshi
Colonel Sophia Qureshi, who left a teaching profession to join the army, hails from Vadodara, Gujarat. Inspired by her father and grandfather who both served in the Indian Army, she left her Ph.D. studies to pursue a military career. Her husband is also an officer in the Indian Army.
She holds the distinction of being the first woman officer to lead an Indian Army contingent in a multinational military exercise. She also represented India in the UN Peacekeeping Force in Congo in 2006.
In 2016, she led the Indian troops in the joint military exercise “Forces 18”. Despite coming from a Muslim family, she chose to serve the nation, emphasizing that the country’s welfare comes first.
Wing Commander Vyomika Singh
Another officer who spoke about Operation Sindhoor is Wing Commander Vyomika Singh. Since childhood, she dreamed of flying in the sky — her name “Vyomika” means “one who lives in the sky.”
An active NCC cadet during her school years, Vyomika is the first woman in her family to join the military. She pursued engineering in college, which supported her goal of becoming a pilot.
She joined the Indian Air Force as a helicopter pilot in 2019 and has flown for over 2,500 hours. She has operated helicopters in challenging terrains from Jammu & Kashmir to the northeastern states of India. During the 2020 snowfall and flood crisis in Arunachal Pradesh, she played a critical role in rescue operations.
Operation Details Revealed by Women Officers
Colonel Sophia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh jointly explained the objectives and success of Operation Sindhoor alongside Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.
The reason for the Army choosing two women officers to present the operation was symbolic. During the Pahalgam attack, the terrorists reportedly killed a man in front of his wife and told her, “We don’t kill women — go tell your Prime Minister.” In response to that, the Indian Army deliberately chose to have women officers lead the communication about this successful retaliatory strike.
