Who is Col Sofia Quraishi? Top army officer leading ‘Operation Sindoor’ presser
She comes from a family with military roots - her grandfather served in the Indian Army. She is married to an officer in the Mechanised Infantry.
Colonel Sofia Quraishi, one of the two women officers who briefed the media after India’s execution of Operation Sindoor on Wednesday, joined the Indian Army Corps of Signals in 1999 and rose to prominence in 2016 as the first woman officer to lead a multinational military exercise.
Following foreign secretary Vikram Misri’s initial statement, Col Quraishi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh shared the details of how the strikes were carried out.
Specifying that Operation Sindoor, which took place between 1.05 am and 1.30 am on Wednesday in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26, targeted nine terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Col Quraishi said the “nine terror sites were chosen based on credible intelligence and their involvement in cross-border terrorism.”
Born in 1974 to a military family in Gujarat’s Vadodara, Col Quraishi graduated with a master’s in Biochemistry from Manonmaniam Sundaranar (MS) University in 1997. Her grandfather was a religious teacher in the army, a statement issued by the Gujarat government said.
Currently an officer in the Mechanised Infantry of the Indian army, along with her husband, Col Quraishi was the first Indian woman officer to lead an Indian contingent and the only woman commander among 18 participating nations at the ASEAN Plus Multinational Military Exercise ‘Force 18’ in 2016.
Operation Parakram
Col Quraishi played a pivotal role during Operation Parakram along the Punjab border that had followed the Indian Parliament attack in December 2001. She earned a Commendation Card from the general officer commanding-in-chief (GOC-in-C) for her exemplary service.
Her contributions are not limited to the battlefield, she has also played a significant role in international peacekeeping missions. As part of the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, she served in Congo for a six-year-tenure, beginning 2006. “Efforts to bring peace to conflict zones have been a moment of pride for me,” she said.
Her leadership was also recognised during the flood relief operations in Northeast India, where her expertise in managing critical communications led to another commendation from the signal officer-in-chief (SO-in-C).
