India’s Nari Shakti was veritably on display during a press briefing here on Operation Sindoor on Wednesday, as two accomplished woman officers joined Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in giving details about the strikes by armed forces on nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
At the briefing held at the National Media Centre, Misri was flanked by Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, presenting a striking image of a combination of India’s prowess in military and diplomacy. After delivering the opening statement from the government, first in Hindi and then in English, Misri announced that the two officers would brief on the operation.
Colonel Qureshi from the Army’s Corps of Signals, and Wing Commander Singh, a helicopter pilot, shared the names and details of the sites targeted in the early hours on Wednesday.
The army officer spoke in Hindi while the IAF helicopter pilot shared the details in English, complementing each other. The military officers took a podium each on the dais as Misri took the centre of the dais. “I, Col Sofiya Qureshi, and along with me Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, will today provide information to you about Operation Sindoor carried out by the Indian armed forces from 1 am to 1:30 am on the intervening night of May 6-May 7, 2025,” Col Qureshi said.
Col Qureshi, a multi-generation officer in the Army, who imbibed the spirit of serving the nation from an early age, read out details as some visuals played on the screen, depicting sites which were targeted. Some videos of the strike were also played on the screen during the briefing.
Wing Commander Singh, during the briefing, said the strike on the terror camps were taken through “precision capabilities”.
The occasion brought to the fore India’s emphasis on ‘Nari Shakti’, especially in the realm of armed forces.
In September 2017, exercising India’s right to reply after the then Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi raked up the Kashmir issue at the UN General Assembly, a young Indian woman diplomat had made a strong rebuttal by calling Pakistan “terroristan”. The statement was read by Eenam Gambhir, who earlier served in the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations in New York.