Gangtok: The Centre has allowed Ogyen Trinley Dorje, recognised by the Dalai Lama as the 17th Karmapa, to visit Sikkim, according to the ruling Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF).

The trip, a long-standing demand of Buddhist monks and the people, to the state bordering China was cleared on Thursday by the cabinet committee on security, SDF spokesperson Dawcho Lepcha said in a release on Friday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads the panel.

The Karmapa - who was born in Tibet and escaped to India through Nepal at the age of 14 - cannot, however, visit the Rumtek Monastery near Gangtok, according to some Buddhist associations.

Rumtek is the main seat in exile of the Karmapa, the head of the Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The monastery had seen a clash between the followers of Ogyen Trinley and his rival claimant to the Karmapa title, Trinley Thaye Dorje, in the early 1990s, followed by a court battle. There is also a third claimant to the title.

"This (clearance) is the result of our collective efforts," said Thukchuk Lachungpa of the Joint Action Committee, an umbrella body of all Buddhist outfits in Sikkim.