New Delhi: India’s ‘Nari Shakti’ was veritably on display during a press briefing here on ‘Operation Sindoor’ on Wednesday, as two accomplished woman military officers joined Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri in giving details about the precision strikes by the 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 Col Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, presenting a striking image of a combination of India’s prowess in military and diplomacy.
Indian military carried out a “measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible” strike to dismantle terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan to “deter and to pre-empt” any further terrorist strikes, Misri said, hours after India retaliated the Pahalgam attack.
The precision strikes were carried out under ‘Operation Sindoor’, two weeks after the massacre of 26 people, mostly tourists, in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam.
After delivering the opening statement from the government, first in Hindi and then in English, Misri announced that the two officers would be briefing on the broader details of the operation.
Col Qureshi from the Army’s Corps of Signals, and Wg Cdr 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 his seat at 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 6-7, 2025,” Col Qureshi said.
The operation was launched to give justice to people, who became victims of the heinous Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, and their families, she 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.
“In this action, nine terrorist camps were targeted and destroyed. In the last three decades in Pakistan, terror infrastructure are being built, including recruitment and indoctrination centres, training areas and launch pads,” she said, as the Corps of Signals insignia clipped on her cap shone bright.
Some videos of the strike were also played on the screen during the briefing. The briefing was held hours after the Indian armed forces carried out missile strikes on nine terror targets in Pakistan and PoK, including the Jaish-e-Mohammad stronghold of Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba’s base Muridke.
Wing Commander Singh, during the briefing, said the strike on the terror camps were taken through “precision capabilities”.
“Niche technology weapons with careful selection of warheads was ensured, so that there will be no collateral damage. The point of impact, in each of the target was a specific building or a group of buildings,” the IAF officer said.
All the targets were “neutralised with clinical efficiency”, and the results “reiterate the professionalism” of the Indian armed forces, in the planning and execution of their operations, she added.
The wing commander underlined that “no military establishments were targeted” during Operation Sindoor.
“India has demonstrated considerable restraint in its response. However, it must be said that the Indian armed forces are fully prepared to respond to Pakistani misadventures, if any that will escalate this situation. Jai Hind,” the IAF officer said, as the briefing came to an end.
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. (PTI)
