India has appointed its first woman director of a security force that guards the country’s borders. Archana Ramasundram, who first joined the country’s police forces in 1981, was named director general of the Sashastra Seema Bal  — or Armed Border Force – a paramilitary force that patrols India’s border with Nepal and Bhutan.

Ramasundram, 58, ascended to the position just two years after the SSB began recruiting women with approval from the Indian government.  Prior to the appointment, she led the country’s National Crime Records Bureau. In her new post she will oversee more than 76,000 soldiers.