With over 70% Buddhists, Ladakh will be the first Indian state with a Buddhist majority.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Tuesday welcomed the Central government's move to confer Union Territory status on Ladakh, a region with a Buddhist majority.

Taking to Twitter, Mr Wickremesinghe said, "I understand Ladakh will finally become a Union Territory. With over 70% Buddhist it will be the first Indian state with a Buddhist majority."

The Sri Lankan Prime Minister added that Ladakh's creation as a Union Territory and its consequential restructuring is "India''s internal matter".

The Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganisation) Bill, 2019, which strips Jammu and Kashmir's status of a state and converts it into a Union Territory with legislature and carving out Ladakh region as a Union Territory without legislature, was passed in a division pressed by the Opposition with 125 votes in favour and 61 against, and a National Congress Party member abstaining.