NEW DELHI (PTI): The Indian Air Force proudly says it is "gender agnostic" and in the officer's cadre, every branch, every stream, every substream has got women officers now, IAF chief Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari said on Wednesday.

He said this in his address during an event held at Subroto Park in New Delhi.

"The India Air Force proudly... we say we are gender agnostic. In the officer's cadre, every branch, every stream, every substream has got women officers now. We have had the first woman CO (commanding officer) of our combat squadron," he said.

"We have had a large number of women officers who have completed their staff course, their higher command course, their HDMC course, and so on.

"So, we have little over 1,600 women in the air force today, 161 of them are from the flying branch, including 17 in the fighters," the IAF Chief said.