The disputed territory of Indian-administered Kashmir could host some of the events planned for the Miss World 2023 international beauty pageant, the 71st edition of which will be hosted by India this year, organizers have announced.

Control of this Himalayan territory, whose majority inhabitants are Muslim, is shared between India and Pakistan. The two countries claim it in its entirety but manage separate parts of it.

The Indian-administered region has seen more than three decades of unrest, which has left tens of thousands dead — civilians and soldiers. New Delhi accuses Pakistan of supporting armed separatists, Islamabad rejects it.

India is now promoting tourism to this region, which has spectacular mountain scenery, and more than a million Indian citizens visited last year.

Miss Universe president Julia Morley said India will host this year’s annual pageant with a series of events held on dates over a month from November to December, part of which will be held in Kashmir. .

“It is a blessed place for tourism,” Morley told reporters during a visit Monday to Srinagar, the region’s main city.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Jamil Saidi, chairman of Indian events company PME Entertainment, clarified that the venue for the final has not yet been chosen. “The venue for the final has not been decided, it will be officially announced later,” he said, adding that the schedule of events across India has not been finalized either.

Poland’s Karolina Bielawska, Miss World 2022, said she was disappointed by the Indian landscapes. “I can’t wait to welcome the representatives of 140 countries (…) to come here to India and show them places like Kashmir, Delhi, Mumbai… You have so many beautiful places.”

The contestants will mainly participate in “sporting challenges and charity initiatives” in order to pre-select the contestants for the grand final in December.

Organizers of the institution state that the pageant “celebrates the beauty, intelligence and humanitarian efforts of women”.

The pageant has been accused in the past of perpetuating the commodification of women, of contributing to a beauty industry that pressures women to follow a highly codified physical appearance.

In May, India hosted the G20 summit on tourism in Srinagar under tight security to demonstrate that “normality and peace”, in official terms, were returning after a massive crackdown on riots that erupted after New Delhi’s revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status in 2019.

Dissent has been criminalized, media freedoms have been curtailed as has public protest, with critics citing a drastic curtailment of civil liberties.