As per an official, the Himalayan state of Sikkim can now be visited by foreigners who will now be able to apply for Restricted Area Permit (RAP) and Protected Area Permit (PAP) online from October this year.
Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang during his Independence Day speech announced the same and added that online applications for RAP and PAP for foreign tourists will be made available soon.
The work on the development of the website is happening right now and this will be done by October when the state witnesses heavy footfalls in the number of tourists.
Foreigners will be able to easily apply online via a dedicated website for the Restricted Area Permit and Protected Area Permit.
Till now, to visit Sikkim, foreigners were required to get a Restricted Area Permit (RAP), which was previously known as InnerLine Permit, from Sikkim Tourism Officers, if they had a valid Indian Visa.
With this latest development, travel agents in Sikkim are happy and thanked the CM as this has been on their agenda for a long and Sikkim is dependent on over 60% from tourism.