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JANUARY 02, 2026 | The Indian Eye 10

TOP NEWSMAKERS OF 2025

Colonel Sofiya Qureshi & Wing Commander

Vyomika Singh: The Rise of Women in New India

In 2025, two Indian military officers stepped into the national spotlight,

not on the battlefield but before the nation, embodying a new era where women stand at

the forefront of India’s security and strategic resolve.

n May 2025, as India responded to
the terror attack in Pahalgam with
Ia calibrated retaliatory operation
named Operation Sindoor, the coun-
try witnessed a moment that went be-
yond military messaging. For the first
time, a high-profile military media
briefing on a sensitive national security
operation was jointly led by two wom-
en officers: Colonel Sofiya Qureshi
of the Indian Army and Wing Com-
mander Vyomika Singh of the Indian
Air Force. Calm, precise, and author-
itative, they became the unmistakable Colonel Sofiya Qureshi (right) and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh (left) briefing the media on ‘Operation Sindoor’
public faces of the operation — and,
in the process, powerful symbols of with Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri (ANI)
the changing role of women in India’s
armed forces and in New India itself. Air Force with extensive flying hours, Qureshi and Wing Commander Singh al, social, and professional divides.
Operation Sindoor was a moment brought a different but complemen- became tangible proof that national One from the Army and the other
of national gravity. The briefing de- tary strength. Trained to operate in service, leadership, and visibility at from the Air Force, one grounded in
manded clarity, credibility, and com- high-risk, high-pressure environ- the highest levels were no longer con- land operations and the other in the
posure under intense public and in- ments, Singh symbolized the opera- strained by tradition. air, they embodied diversity within
ternational scrutiny. Colonel Qureshi tional edge of India’s air power. Her Their emergence as the faces of unity. That they spoke with one voice
and Wing Commander Singh deliv- role in the briefing highlighted the Air Operation Sindoor also aligned with reinforced the idea of jointness — not
ered exactly that. Standing shoulder to Force’s growing integration of women a broader transformation underway only among services, but across gen-
shoulder, representing two different into combat and operational aviation in India’s armed forces. Over the der lines in national leadership.
services, they conveyed operational roles, once considered exclusively past decade, women have entered In the months that followed, ref-
details with restraint and confidence, male domains. Together, Qureshi and new streams across the military — erences to the “Operation Sindoor
reinforcing the seriousness of India’s Singh reflected not exceptionality, but from permanent commissions to briefing” entered public discourse as a
response while projecting institutional institutional change. fighter aviation, naval operations, shorthand for women’s rising visibility
professionalism. The visual itself car- The national response to the and command-track roles. The 2025 in strategic spaces. Educational insti-
ried meaning: India’s security narra- briefing was immediate and telling. briefing did not create this shift; it tutions, military aspirants, and civil
tive was being articulated by women Across television screens, newspa- revealed it. It showed a system con- society forums cited the moment as
officers at the highest level of trust. pers, and digital platforms, the focus fident enough to place women at the inspirational. For young women con-
Colonel Sofiya Qureshi, an expe- quickly expanded beyond Opera- forefront during moments of nation- sidering careers in uniform, the mes-
rienced Indian Army officer, brought tion Sindoor itself to the two officers al consequence. sage was unmistakable: leadership was
to the briefing a reputation built delivering the message. They were Equally significant was the sym- no longer theoretical; it was visible,
over years of service in operational widely praised for their composure bolism embedded in the operation’s current, and real.
and leadership roles. Known within and clarity, but also for what they public communication. In a country Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing
the force for her analytical approach represented: a confident, modern where women have often been por- Commander Vyomika Singh did not
and steady command presence, she India where authority is defined by trayed primarily as victims or benefi- seek celebrity. Their prominence was
represented the Army’s expanding competence rather than gender. ciaries of security, Qureshi and Singh a by-product of duty performed at
confidence in placing women officers By the end of 2025, both officers represented women as providers of se- a critical juncture. Yet history often
in roles that demand both strategic featured prominently in media retro- curity — professionals entrusted with turns on such moments — when rep-
depth and public accountability. Her spectives and recognitions, including defending the nation and explaining resentation meets responsibility. In
presence underscored how women Femina’s Fab List, which acknowl- its actions to the world. This reframing 2025, as India asserted its security in-
have moved decisively beyond support edged women who broke barriers and carried deep resonance in the context terests, these two officers also asserted
roles into the core of military deci- reshaped public perceptions during of “New India,” a phrase increasingly something quieter but equally endur-
sion-making and representation. the year. Yet their impact extended far associated with self-assurance, institu- ing: that the story of India’s defense,
Wing Commander Vyomika beyond awards. For many Indians — tional reform, and social change. and of New India itself, is increasingly
Singh, a helicopter pilot in the Indian especially young women — Colonel Their story also cut across region- being written by women in uniform.

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