COLONEL SOFIYA QURESHI

Indian Army

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A third-generation army officer, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi joined the Indian army in 1999.

Only seven years after women were allowed to enrol in non-medical roles, she became a part of the early batches of women to join the Corp of Signals - a vital combat support arm of the Indian Army. Twenty-six years later, as the commander of an elite unit in the same corp, she led her team in Operation Sindoor - India's retaliatory military operation in response to the terrorist attacks in Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir.