Who are Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Colonel Sophia Qureshi, the women who jointly led the media briefing on Operation Sindoor?

The media brief on Operation Sindoor, the retaliatory military strikes that targeted nine terror installations in Pakistan, was led by two senior women officers from the Indian armed forces, Wing Commander Vyomika Singh of the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Colonel Sophia Qureshi of the Indian Army.

The strikes occured in retaliation for the terror attack in Pahalgam, which killed 26 individuals, and exclusively targeted terrorist infrastructure, according to reports.

Who is Wing Commander Vyomika Singh?

Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, a decorated helicopter pilot in the IAF, had a dream of flying from an early age. The meaning behind her name, "Vyomika", which means “daughter of the sky”, stirred her innate passion for the craft of flying.

Vyomika is married to an Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot. She shared how her name, perhaps, carried her destiny to become a pilot during a panel discussion hosted by a private channel in 2023.

"I was in Class 6 when the Eureka moment happened -- I realised that I wanted to be a pilot and own the sky. We were having a discussion in class on the meaning of names. Somebody shouted, ‘You are Vyomika, which means you own the sky’. Since that day, I have wanted to be a pilot. This was in the early 1990s,” Vyomika recalled during the panel discussion.

To pursue her dream, she joined the National Cadet Corps (NCC) during her school life and later pursued an engineering degree. As a first among her family, she chose to join the armed forces. On December 18, 2019, she was commissioned as a helicopter pilot in the IAF with a permanent commission granted in the flying branch.

She is now an experienced helicopter pilot with 2,500 hours of flight logged by her in some of the toughest terrains, including Jammu and Kashmir and the Northeast. She has also notably played a key role in multiple rescue missions. One of the major missions which included her involvement was the relief mission in Arunachal Pradesh in November of 2020, following heavy rainfall and floods. These operations were conducted in high-altitude, difficult weather, and remote locations where air support is crucial for saving lives.

“It has been an excellent experience (in the IAF), and I love it,” the IAF officer told the private channel, as she shared what it meant to fly a helicopter in different weather conditions and navigate it.

Who is Colonel Sophia Qureshi?
Colonel Sophia Qureshi, a brilliant officer from the Indian Army Corps of Signals, was the first woman to lead an Indian contingent in a multinational military exercise.

Qureshi, an officer from the Corps of Signals, spoke in Hindi while IAF helicopter pilot Singh shared the details in English, complementing each other.

During the largest ever foreign military drill hosted by India in 2016, she found herself commanding the Indian team during 'Exercise Force 18'. She has the distinction of being the only female commander to represent her country from among representatives of 18 participating countries according to an X post by the Ministry of Defence.  

She hails from Gujarat and has historic ties with the military, with her husband being an officer in the mechanised infantry and her grandfather having served in the Indian army. 

She has also notably served with UN Peacekeeping Operations for six years, with her tenure including a stint in the UN mission in Congo (2006), where she described her peacekeeping duties as involving the monitoring of ceasefires and supporting humanitarian efforts in conflict zones.

Being a 'Fauji' kid, I was exposed to the army environment. My mother wanted either of us two sisters to join the Army. I applied for it and got it. My grandfather was also in the Army, and he used to say, 'It is our responsibility, as every citizen, to be alert and stand up for our country and defend the nation. ' It is a dignified and honourable job,” she had recalled at a panel discussion in 2017.

She also said that when she "joined the academy, the Kargil war was going on".

The officer also led an army training contingent at a multinational field training exercise in 2016.

“1st woman officer to lead an Army training contingent at Force18 - #ASEAN Plus multinational field training exercise in 2016. She was the only Woman Officers Contingent Commander among all #ASEAN Plus contingents. #WomensDay #IWD2020 #EachforEqual #SheInspiresUs," the Ministry of Defence had said in a Women's Day post on X, sharing a photograph of Qureshi.

Representing the armed forces in sensitive times
The joint press conference on Operation Sindoor came at a time of military action. The presence of Wing Commander Vyomika Singh and Colonel Sophia Qureshi at the briefing highlighted the role of professional officers in maintaining communication between the military and the public during crisis situations.