NEW DELHI, May 8 (Reuters) - Asia's richest man Mukesh

Ambani's film studio has withdrawn an application to trademark

the codename for India's military strikes against Pakistan after

a public and political uproar on social media against the move.

In a statement, billionaire Ambani's conglomerate Reliance

said the trademark application was filed inadvertently

by a junior person at Jio Studios without authorization, adding

that the phrase "Operation Sindoor" was "now a part of the

national consciousness as an evocative symbol of Indian

bravery."

India said it hit "terrorist infrastructure" in Pakistan and

Pakistani Kashmir earlier this week after militants killed 26

men, mostly Hindu, in Indian Kashmir. Sindoor, which refers to

the red vermilion powder worn by married Hindu women, was an

apparent reference to the widows left by the attack.

Reliance's statement came hours after some social media

users posted screenshots of the Indian government website

showing some individuals and Reliance had filed applications for

trademark registration.

"This isn't branding, it's blatant mockery ... It's

disturbing to see something so serious being reduced to a joke,"

posted an X user who identified herself as Archana Pawar.

Aniruddh Sharma, a spokesperson for India's main opposition

Congress party, questioned why Ambani was trying to register the

trademark for his business gains.

In its application, Reliance said it was for "provision of

entertainment; production, presentation and distribution of

audio, video".

Bollywood films on India's previous military operations have

been huge hits. In 2019, "Uri", based on India's previous

"surgical strikes" on alleged Islamist militant launchpads in

Pakistani territory, was released in 16 countries including

India.

Islamabad said at the time there had been no Indian

incursion into its territory and there was no retaliation by

Pakistani forces.

Reliance last year merged its Indian media assets with Walt

Disney ( DIS ) to create a $8.5 billion entertainment empire,

which runs several channels and a streaming platform.