Prime Minister Narendra Modi is currently visiting Sikkim to participate in the closing ceremony of the State’s 50-year celebrations, which kicked off last year in May. Arriving in Gangtok on Monday (April 27), PM Modi also inaugurated multiple development projects across sectors, including infrastructure, healthcare, education, power, and agriculture. Sikkim only became an official part of India after almost three decades of independence for the country. Annually commemorated on May 16, Sikkim Day marks the former kingdom’s integration with India in 1975. The kingdom of Sikkim was established in 1642, when, according to one account, three Tibetan lamas consecrated Phuntsong Namgyal as the first ruler or Chogyal of Sikkim. The monarchy of the Namgyal dynasty was maintained for the next 333 years, until 1975. Sandwiched between India and China, and often party to conflicts over land with Bhutan and Nepal, the British colonisation of India first led to a semi-formal relationship between the two states.…