India's choice of female officers for Operation Sindoor briefing seeks to punch holes in Pak's 'two nation' theory

Col Qureshi, the first woman officer of the Corps of Signals who was commissioned in 1990, was accompanied by Wing Commander Vyomika, who is an Indian Air Force helicopter pilot with more than 2,500 hours of flying experience.

By fielding two women defence officers - Col Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh - along with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri to brief the media on the operational details of 'Operation Sindoor', India has sought to trash the “two-nation” theory peddled by the top Pakistani military officers, being seen as a dog whistle for the Pahalgam terror strike.

Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir, while addressing a convention on April 16, had said Hindus and Muslims were different nations while reiterating that Kashmir was Pakistan’s jugular vein.

Secretary Misri, the senior government official who led the three-member team for the media briefing about the strikes deep inside Pakistan, is himself a Kashmiri Pandit born in Srinagar.

He joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1989 and has served as India’s Deputy National Security Advisor and its Ambassador to China.

Unlike Pakistan, which has fielded two-star generals to respond to India's operations deep inside its territory, India chose relatively junior defense officers to do the talking.

Col Qureshi, the first woman officer of the Corps of Signals, was commissioned in 1990. She has a long experience in international peacekeeping, including India’s 2006 mission to Congo, and is the first woman to lead an Indian army contingent at a multinational field exercise.

Col Qureshi was accompanied by Wing Commander Vyomika, who is an Indian Air Force helicopter pilot with more than 2,500 hours of flying experience.

She has led key rescue operations and, as part of the tri-services all-woman expedition in 2021, scaled Mt. Manirang, a 21,500-foot Himalayan peak. She is currently posted at the Air Headquarters in Delhi.