A Kashmiri, a Muslim, two women officers: The message in India's briefing after Operation Sindoor

There was a message in India’s media briefing for Operation Sindoor.

India said it struck nine terrorist sites in Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) in the early hours of Wednesday in response to the Pahalgam attack. The military action was codenamed ‘Operation Sindoor’.

Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri was joined in the media briefing by two women officers: Colonel Sofiya Qureshi of the Indian Army and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh of the Indian Air Force.

That two women led India’s briefing on the country’s response to Pahalgam attack, with one of them —Qureshi— a Muslim from Kashmir, was not lost on anyone.

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The codename, Operation Sindoor, was chosen by Prime Minister Narendra Modi because of its cultural significance and the nature of the Pahalgam attack. In Hindu culture, ‘sindoor’ refers to the vermilion that many women wear as a signifier of their marriage.

In the Pahalgam attack, Hindu men were singled out and shot dead in front of their wives and children by terrorists. The codename and the briefing by two women officers, one of them a Kashmiri, are India’s messages to the world and a symbolism not lost on anyone.

“Operation Sindoor was launched to give justice to victims of heinous Pahalgam terrorist attack on April 22. Nine terrorist camps were targeted and completely destroyed. For three decades, terror infrastructure has prospered in Pakistan that includes recruitment and indoctrination centres, training areas, and launchpads. These centres are spread over both Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK),” said Qureshi in the briefing.

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#WATCH | #OperationSindoor, Col. Sofiya Qureshi says, "Operation Sindoor was launched to give justice to victims of Pahalgam terrorist attack. Nine terrorist camps were targeted and destroyed." pic.twitter.com/8nbLHN6a3k

— ANI (@ANI) May 7, 2025

Singh said that targets were selected such that the collateral damage to civilians is minimised.

“The selection of locations was based on credible intelligence inputs and the role of these facilities in perpetrating terror activity. The locations were so selected to avoid the damage to civilian infrastructures and loss of any civilian lives,” said Singh.

In the briefing, the government shared the targets that India struck inside Pakistan and POJK.

On his part, Foreign Secretary Misri said that India conducted airstrikes after no action was taken by Pakistan against terrorists on its soil in a fortnight. He said that airstrikes were a pre-emptive action to prevent impending attacks on India from Pakistan-based groups.

“Despite a fortnight having passed since the attacks, there has been no demonstrable step from Pakistan to take action against the terrorist infrastructure on its territory or on territory under its control. Instead, all it has indulged in are denials and allegations. Our intelligence monitoring of Pakistan-based terrorist modules indicated that further attacks against India were impending. There was thus a compulsion both to deter and to pre-empt,” said Misri.

As in the initial statement, Misri reiterated that India exercised restraint in the strikes and did not strike any military facility.

“These actions were measured, non-escalatory, proportionate, and responsible. They focused on dismantling the terrorist infrastructure and disabling terrorists likely to be sent across to India,” said Misri.