A watchmaker waits for customers during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus in Chennai on June 29, 2020. (Photo by Arun Sankar/AFP Photo)

A Kashmiri Muslim bride looks through her veil during a mass wedding event in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Thursday, June 15, 2023. Mass weddings in India are organized by social organizations primarily to help the economically backward families who cannot afford the high ceremony costs as well as the customary dowry and expensive gifts that are still prevalent in many communities. (Photo by Mukhtar Khan/AP Photo)

A Kashmiri farmer picks saffron flowers from a field in Pampore, south of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, 06 November 2023. Pampore, also known as the Saffron town of Kashmir, is famous for its high quality saffron. It is one of few places in the world where the world's most expensive spice grows. (Photo by Farooq Khan/EPA)

Locals light firecrackers on the occasion of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in Chennai, India on November 12, 2023. (Photo by Idrees Mohammed/EPA/EFE)

Cadets prepare to take part in a full dress rehearsal for the upcoming Republic Day parade, in Chennai on January 24, 2024. (Photo by R. Satish Babu/AFP Photo)

Some 300 girls and women in India still practise open defecation. Over half the country’s population, 800 million people, do not have access to a toilet that meets basic standards. (Photo by Poulomi Basu/WaterAid)

Protesters shield themselves as police beat them with sticks during a violent demonstration near the India Gate against a gang rape and brutal beating of a 23-year-old student on a bus last week, in New Delhi, India, December 23, 2012. The attack last Sunday has sparked days of protests across the country. (Photo by Kevin Frayer/Associated Press)

An Indian bride, sits during a mass marriage of 162 Muslim couples in Ahmadabad, India, Sunday, March 3, 2013. Mass marriages in India are organized by social organizations primarily to help the economically backward families who cannot afford the high ceremony costs as well as the customary dowry and expensive gifts that are still prevalent in many communities. (Photo by Ajit Solanki/AP Photo/LaPresse)