Editing Sikkim (section)

=== Recent history ===
In 2000, the seventeenth [[Karmapa]], [[Karmapa controversy#Urgyen Trinley Dorje|Urgyen Trinley Dorje]], who had been confirmed by the [[Dalai Lama]] and accepted as a [[tulku]] by the Chinese government, escaped from [[Tibet (1912–1951)|Tibet]], seeking to return to the [[Rumtek Monastery]] in Sikkim. Chinese officials were in a dilemma on this issue, for any protests to India would mean an explicit endorsement of India's governance of Sikkim, which China still recognised as an independent state occupied by India. The Chinese government eventually recognised Sikkim as an Indian state in 2003, in return for India declaring [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet]] as a part of the territory of China;<ref>{{cite news |title=India and China agree over Tibet |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3015840.stm |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=24 June 2003 |access-date=19 June 2011}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last1=Powers |first1=John |last2=Templeman |first2=David |title=Historical Dictionary of Tibet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LVlyX6iSDEQC&pg=PA184 |year=2012 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-7984-3 |page=184}}</ref> [[New Delhi]] had accepted Tibet as part of China in 1954, but China appears to have believed that the agreement had lapsed.<ref>{{citation |chapter=China–India: Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh Plateaus |last=Pardesi |first=Manjeet |editor=Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly |title=Border Disputes: A Global Encyclopedia, 3 volumes: A Global Encyclopedia |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k9g5CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA542 |year=2015 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-61069-024-9 |pages=543–544}}: "Soon thereafter, India signed an agreement with China—on April 29, 1954—which explicitly recognized Tibet as part of China."</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Acharya |first=Alka |chapter=China |editor1=David Malone |editor2=C. Raja Mohan |editor3=Srinath Raghavan |title=The Oxford Handbook of Indian Foreign Policy |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KL8DCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA358 |year=2015 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-874353-8 |page=358}}: "With the signing of Panchsheel, however, India ... established the official Indian position that Tibet was a part of China and that India would not permit any anti-China activity on its soil."</ref> The 2003 agreement led to a thaw in [[Sino-Indian relations]].<ref name="Map">{{cite news |first=Amit |last=Baruah |url=http://www.hindu.com/2005/04/12/stories/2005041210160100.htm |title=China backs India's bid for U.N. Council seat |date=12 April 2005 |access-date=12 October 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070228082759/http://www.hindu.com/2005/04/12/stories/2005041210160100.htm |archive-date=28 February 2007 |url-status=dead |work=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref> On 6 July 2006, the Sikkimese Himalayan pass of [[Nathu La]] was opened to cross-border trade, becoming the first open border between India and China.<ref name="BBC Nathula">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5150682.stm |title=Historic India-China link opens |publisher=BBC News |date=6 July 2006 |access-date=12 October 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060707022630/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5150682.stm |archive-date=7 July 2006 |url-status=live}}</ref> The pass, which was first opened during the 1904 [[Younghusband Expedition]] to Tibet,<ref>{{citation |last=Waddell |first=L. Austin |title=Lhasa and its Mysteries |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.79988 |publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]] |location=London |year=1905 |page=106 |via=archive.org}}</ref> had remained closed since the 1962 [[Sino-Indian War]].<ref name="BBC Nathula"/>

On 18 September 2011, [[2011 Sikkim earthquake|a magnitude 6.9M<sub>w</sub> earthquake]] struck Sikkim, killing at least 116 people in the state and in [[Nepal]], [[Bhutan]], Bangladesh and [[Tibet Autonomous Region|Tibet]].<ref>[http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_himalayan-quake-toll-climbs-to-116-40-stranded-foreign-tourists-rescued_1589946 "Himalayan quake toll climbs to 116, 40 stranded foreign tourists rescued"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926110846/http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_himalayan-quake-toll-climbs-to-116-40-stranded-foreign-tourists-rescued_1589946 |date=26 September 2011}}. [[Daily News and Analysis|DNA]]. 21 September 2011.</ref> More than 60 people died in Sikkim alone, and the city of [[Gangtok]] suffered significant damage.<ref>[http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/earthquake-toll-rises-to-50-in-india-rescue-teams-land-at-quakes-epicentre-mangan-134859 "Earthquake toll over 80; India 68; as rescue teams reach quake epicentre"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110925030112/http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/earthquake-toll-rises-to-50-in-india-rescue-teams-land-at-quakes-epicentre-mangan-134859 |date=25 September 2011}}. NDTV. 20 September 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2012.</ref>