An eight-day event attracting paragliders from around the world begins Saturday in Himachal Pradesh's Kangra district against the backdrop of the deaths of two flyers this week.
The competition for the Indian Open World Paragliding Cup-2018 will be held at Bir Billing, one of the top paragliding destinations in the world and the scene of the two deaths.
Singapore's Kok Chang was killed Tuesday and Australia's Sanjay Kumar Ramdas Devarkonda died the next day in paragliding mishaps, an official said.
The Singaporean had come to take part in the competition, organised by the Bir Billing Special Area Development Authority (SADA) in collaboration with the state's tourism department.
It is not immediately clear if the other victim also was in Bir Billing for the event.
Baijnath sub-divisional magistrate Vikas Shukla, who is the event coordinator, said both victims were free-flyers'.
The qualified pilots usually free-fly while others paraglide in tandem with qualified licence-holder pilots. He said.
Paragliding is an adventurous sport, adventure and accidents go side by side, he said, stressing that the rate of such mishaps was lower than road accidents.
He said over 50,000 people, including about 4,000 foreigners, visit the Bir Billing village for paragliding every year.
Shukla called the place amid the Dhauladhar range in the Himalayas the world's second-best paragliding site.
He defended the decision to go-ahead with the event even after the two isolated accidents.
Paragliding around Bir Billing was stopped for a day on Thursday and a session on safety conducted for the Indian Open participants.
Shukla said all possible safety measures have been taken for the event.
Army helicopters and seven rescue teams will remain on standby during the event, he added.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
