India allows Karmapa to visit Sikkim

India has allowed a Tibetan spiritual leader, the Karmapa Lama, to visit the Indian Himalayan state of Sikkim.

The Karmapa, who is the spiritual head of one of the four Tibetan Buddhist sects, the Kagyus, said he was grateful to have permission to go to the Rumtek monastery in Sikkim.

His followers would like him to settle down at this monastery.

A BBC correspondent says the Karmapa upset China by leaving Tibet three years ago, claiming asylum in India.

Our correspondent says it is not clear whether India will allow the Karmapa to stay permanently in Sikkim, which China does not recognize as part of India.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service