India inducts its first ever female naval pilot

"I know, this is not just an exciting opportunity but a great responsibility also"

Shubhangi Swaroop, India's first female naval pilot (Shubhangi Swaroop/Facebook)

India has inducted its first female pilot and first female naval officers into a historically male unit.

The move was praised by the Indian government as representative of the "quantum leaps" in women's rights the country is making.

​Shubhangi Swaroop, from ​​Uttar Pradesh state in northern India, will be the country's first female naval pilot.

"I know, this is not just an exciting opportunity but a great responsibility also," Ms Swaroop said, according to the Times of India.

She will soon be flying maritime reconnaissance aircraft.

In the same ceremony, three other women - Aastha Segal, Roopa A and Sakthimaya S - were appointed to the Naval Armament Inspection (NAI) branch, a traditionally male-only branch of the navy.

Only 27 per cent of Indian women work, according to official statistics. In South Asia, a 2013 study found the country had the lowest rate of female employment after Pakistan.

India faces regular international criticism over human rights, including its failure to criminalise marital rape, and its lack of support for women who suffer sexual violence.