Who are the two women officers who briefed on Operation Sindoor

NEW DELHI: Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Colonel Sofiya Qureshi are the two women officers who took the lead in sharing the details of the terror strikes in Pakistan. Sofiya Qureshi and Vyomika Singh led by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, explained how Operation Sindoor was implemented in the press meet convened.

Colonel Sofiya Qureshi is an officer from the Indian Army's Corps of Signals. This high-ranking military officer has achieved many historic achievements in her 35 years of service. In March 2016, when she was a Lieutenant Colonel, Sofiya Qureshi achieved her first milestone by becoming the first woman officer to lead a military contingent in a multinational military exercise. The exercise, dubbed 'Exercise Force 18', is the largest foreign military exercise India has ever hosted. The Pune-based exercise saw the participation of soldiers from 18 countries, including ASEAN member states and global powers such as Japan, China, Russia, the United States, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia. Sofiya was the only woman officer among them.

As the Commanding Officer of the 40-member Indian contingent, Colonel Sofiya led her team in critical training sessions focusing on Peacekeeping Operations (PKOs) and Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA). She served as a Military Observer in the United Nations peacekeeping operation in Congo in 2006. She has been working with PKOs since 2010.

Wing Commander Vyomika Singh is a helicopter pilot in the Indian Air Force. She joined the Indian Air Force through NCC. Commissioned as a helicopter pilot in the Indian Air Force, Vyomika Singh was granted a permanent commission in the flying branch on December 18 in 2019. With over 2,500 hours of helicopter flying, Vyomika Singh has flown helicopters like Chetak and Cheetah in some of the most difficult terrains, including Jammu and Kashmir and the northeastern states. She has also carried out several rescue operations, including in Arunachal Pradesh in 2020. In 2021, she participated in a mountaineering expedition to the 21,650-foot Manirang mountain.