<P> In 1970, Zeenat Aman won Miss Asia Pacific 1970 . She became the first Indian and South Asian woman to win the title . </P> <P> The awards for 1989 were given at the end of the year (December); hence there was no separate contest for 1990 . </P> <P> In 1994, Sushmita Sen won the Miss Universe title after winning the Miss India crown and became the first Indian woman ever to win the Miss Universe crown . The same year the runner - up of Miss India, Aishwarya Rai, won the Miss World title . Sushmita Sen and Aishwarya Rai established themselves in the Bollywood industry after winning their titles . </P> <P> The success of Rai and Sen spawned coaching institutions which were set up to groom young women in pageant participation skills . The number of participants in the preliminary rounds of the pageant has increased considerably . Miss India World 1997, Diana Hayden won the title of Miss World 1997 . In 1999, the Miss India World Yukta Mookhey went on to win the Miss World that year . </P>

Who was the first indian woman to be crowned miss universe