New Delhi, May 8 -- Indian Army Colonel Sophia Qureshi and Indian Air Force Wing Commander Vyomika Singh, although senior in their ranks, may not under normal circumstances become the most public faces of the armed forces in a war-like situation. That too as a sharply calibrated riposte to the machinations of a hostile neighbor, namely Pakistan.

However, that is exactly whom the Indian government chose to lead the media briefing over its military strikes on nine sites in Pakistan flanking Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri. The fact that Qureshi is a Muslim and Singh a Hindu could not have been accidental. It clearly seemed like a deliberate strategy to have them announce the details of the strikes in the face of Pakistan's frequent attempts...