Princess Bhrikuti, as a part of her dowry, is widely believed to have brought Buddhists relics and Thangkas to Tibet, and therefore, is attributed for establishing Buddhism as the Royal religion in Tibet. The area of Lo Manthang, however, still remains quasi-restricted to foreigners.Īround 600-650 CE, Nepalese Princess Bhrikuti (Bal-mo-bza' Khri-btsun in Tibetan) got married to Songtsän Gampo, the earliest known Emperor of Tibet. The Buddhist monarchy in The Kingdom of Lo ( Upper Mustang), previously a part of the Tibetan Empire but now in Nepal, was terminated only in 2008. Despite the fluctuating political scenarios in Nepal's neighborhood and within Nepal itself, influence of Buddhism still remains strong in day-to-day life of Nepalese people living in the Himalayan Region. However, the people to people ties between these groups has been affected since 1950 onwards, after the absorption of Tibet into China resulting in the regulated border between Nepal and Tibet (as a part of China). The relationship between Nepal and Tibet are centuries old, with the Sherpa people, the Gurung people and the Thakali people of Nepal sharing close linguistic, cultural, marital, and, ethnic ties with the Tibetan people of Tibet. Statue of Araniko at the Miaoying Temple, Beijing Songtsän Gampo (centre) Princess Wencheng (right) and Princess Balmobza' Khribtsun (left) See also: China–India relations#Tang and Harsha dynasties As per the estimate of Nepalese government, there are around 2-3 million Nepalese migrant workers in India while the number of Nepalis in China is minuscule (3,500 in Mainland and 15,950 in Hong Kong) as of 2017. Since 1975, Sino-Nepal relations have been close and grown significantly with China being the largest source of FDI, while India still remains one of the major source of remittance to Nepal. From 1975 onward, Nepal has maintained a policy of balancing the competing influence of China and Nepal's southern neighbour India, the only two neighbors of the Himalayan country after the annexation of the Kingdom of Sikkim by India in 1975. The government of both Nepal and China ratified the border agreement treaty on October 5, 1961. Relations between Nepal and China got a boost when both countries solved all border disputes along China–Nepal border by signing the Sino-Nepal boundary agreement on March 21, 1960. The government of Nepal, though initially unenthusiastic about its ties with People's Republic of China, has been of late making efforts to increase trade and connectivity with China while also simultaneously trying to decrease its reliance on India.
The bilateral relation between Nepal and China has been friendly and is defined by the Sino-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship signed on Apby the two countries.