India's Women and Armed Forces

If image was reality, it would be time to crack open the champagne and celebrate women being welcomed into India’s military.

On November 25 last year, Indian President Pratibha Patil made history by becoming the first female head of state to fly in a frontline Sukhoi-30 MKI warplane. Earlier in the year, Delhi-based defence journalist Suman Sharma co-piloted a Russian MiG-35 fighter aircraft at the annual Aero India show--the first woman in the world to do so.