New Delhi, October 31, 2025 – Operation Sindoor, India's military action earlier this year, has brought a "paradigm shift" in warfighting and validated the nation's capability for multi-domain precision warfare, according to Colonel Sofiya Qureshi. Col. Qureshi, a prominent face during media briefings on ‘Op Sindoor,’ made these remarks while addressing the ‘Chanakya Defence Dialogue: Young Leaders Forum at Manekshaw Centre’.
Operation Sindoor was launched on May 7, 2025, in response to the terror attack on civilians in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, on April 22, 2025. The cross-border operation saw the Indian armed forces conduct precision missile strikes on nine terrorist targets across Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK). These strikes targeted key terrorist installations, including Jaish-e-Mohammad's stronghold in Bahawalpur and Lashkar-e-Taiba's base in Muridke.
Col. Qureshi highlighted the "information warfare" waged by the Pakistani side during the operation. She urged the youth to be agile and alert in warding off misinformation and pitched for greater digital literacy among the youth, including in academic institutions, to counter it. She emphasized that the youth are not only trained in firepower but also in firewalls, ready to face kinetic and non-kinetic domains. "War is not only fought in bunkers or with bullets, but also with bites and bandwidths," she added.
According to Col. Qureshi, Operation Sindoor proved that peace, stability, and progress cannot be sustained without the participation of young minds and civilians. She described it as an "extraordinary demonstration" of tri-service synergy, jointness, integration, and self-reliance, which she termed "JAI" – Jointness, Self-reliance, and Innovation. She also emphasized the importance of a "whole-of-nation approach," where the youth from industry, academia, and armed forces operate as one integrated unit.
Chief of the Army Staff, General Upendra Dwivedi, also lauded the contributions of young military officers, National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets, and "social media warriors" during Operation Sindoor. He highlighted the exemplary role of young Indians, including military personnel, NCC cadets, civil defense workers, drone experts, and citizens who worked through social media platforms during the operation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking at the Statue of Unity, recalled Operation Sindoor and asserted that India's response to its enemies is now "decisive, strong, and visible to the world". He stated that Operation Sindoor had sent a clear message that "India can enter enemy territory and strike".
Col. Sofiya Qureshi is a senior officer in the Indian Army, notable for being the first woman to lead an Indian contingent in a United Nations peacekeeping mission. She gained national attention for her role during the 2025 India–Pakistan conflict. Commissioned in 1999 after graduating from the Officers Training Academy into the Army Signal Corps, Qureshi served in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and North-East India. In 2016, as a colonel, she led 40 Indian troops during exercise Force 18—the first woman to lead an Indian training contingent. Born in Vadodara, Gujarat, Col. Qureshi comes from a family with a military background; both her father and grandfather served in the Indian Armed Forces.
