Panaji: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has said he is in favour of assigning roles to women in the army's counter-terrorism operations. He said "in principle" he was in favour of women in combat positions, but a final decision would be taken later.

"I don't see why not. We take them as equal in everything," Parrikar said in reply to a question. The ministry could assign them "role in counter-terrorism operations (at the borders) or even to tackle terrorists within the country," he said. He was speaking at a fund-raising function in Bambolim on the outskirts of Panaji yesterday evening.