For the Women, By the Women: India Hits Back After Pahalgam, Women Officers Lead Briefing

Transcript

00:00A moment etched in history, two women officers communicated India's message to the world

00:27following aerial strikes on Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on 7th May.

00:46Colonel Sophia Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh represented the Indian Armed Forces

00:51at a high-level joint media briefing after Operation Sindhur.

00:57Colonel Qureshi from the Indian Army's Corps of Signals is a trailblazer in uniform.

01:13In 2016, she had become the first woman officer to lead an army contingent

01:17at an 18-nation military exercise, Exercise Force 18.

01:21A seasoned peacekeeper, she earlier served as a UN military observer in Congo

01:25and had been closely associated with peacekeeping operations since 2010.

01:30Military service runs in her blood.

01:32Her grandfather was in the army and her husband serves in the mechanized infantry.

01:36The selection of these targets for Operation Sindhur was based on credible intelligence inputs

01:41and role of these facilities in perpetrating the terror activities.

01:47The locations were so selected to avoid damage to civilian infrastructures and loss of any civilian lives.

01:54This is Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, a decorated helicopter pilot in the Indian Air Force.

01:59Vyomika's journey began with a dream in 6th grade to fly.

02:02Her name itself, meaning Daughter of the Sky, seemed to pre-ordain her path.

02:06Singh joined the NCC, pursued engineering and became the first in her family to join the armed forces.

02:12Granted a permanent commission in 2019, by 2023, she has logged over 2,500 flying cars,

02:18piloting Chetak and Cheetah helicopters in some of India's toughest terrains,

02:22from high-altitude zones in Kashmir to rescue missions in the Northeast.

02:26In 2021, she was part of an all-women tri-services expedition to Mount Manirang.

02:31At the Operation Sindhur briefing, she didn't just represent the IAF,

02:34she represented a new chapter for women in uniforms.

02:56So, as she was part of an all-women tri-services expedition to Mount Manirang.

02:59So, we will be able to do all the current locations in the U.S.