Miss Universe 2021: Harnaaz Sandhu from India won the title after 21 years

Actor-model Harnaaz Sandhu has beaten contestants from 79 countries to win the Miss Universe 2021 title for India.

She is the first Indian woman to achieve this feat in the past 21 years. Before her, it was actor-model Lara Dutta who had claimed the crown in 2000.

While Paraguay's Nadia Ferreira became the first runner-up, South Africa's Lalela Mswane was named second runner-up at the competition that was held in Eilat, Israel.

Born in Chandigarh, Sandhu had earlier lifted the ‘Miss Diva Universe 2021’ title after which she was qualified to participate in Miss Universe 2021 pageant.

With this title, she has become the third woman to win the Miss Universe pageant after Lara Dutta and Sushmita Sen. While Lara Dutta had won the Miss Universe title in 2000, Sushmita Sen earned this global recognition in the year 1994.

"Congratulations, @HarnaazSandhu03!!! Welcome to the club!!! We’ve waited 21 long years for this!!! You make us SO SO proud!!! A billion dreams come true!!!," actress Lara Dutta said in a tweet on her Twitter handle @LaraDutta.

Staying true to her Instagram bio which says, “Shine like the whole Universe is yours”, Sandhu has made Indian proud after 21 long years. Sandhu started her career as a model at a very young age and switched to beauty pageants later. She is also the winner of Miss Chandigarh 2017 which encouraged and inspired her to go for bigger recognitions.

According to reports, she has also drawn a lot of inspiration from Priyanka Chopra who had won the Miss World 2000 title.