Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Sri Lanka)

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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (also known as the Foreign Ministry) is a ministry of the Government of Sri Lanka that conducts and manages Sri Lanka's relations with other countries. The ministry is housed at the Republic Building in Colombo fort.

History

The ministry was formally established in 1948 following the independence of Ceylon as the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence, coming under the direct control of the Prime Minister of Ceylon. In 1977, J.R Jayawardena's government adapted two separate ministries, forming the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of External Affairs. A.C.S Hameed was appointed as Cabinet Minister of External Affairs.

Overseas missions

The ministry has 40 overseas missions including 13 High Commissions, 40 Embassies, 2 Permanent Representations to the United Nations, 14 consulates and a representative office. It provides consular assistance to Sri Lankans traveling, working and studying overseas.

Senior officials

• Minister of Foreign Affairs — Mangala Samaraweera
• Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs — Harsha de Silva
• Permanent Secretary — Mrs. C. Vageeshwara

Divisions

• General Administration Division
• Overseas Administration Division
• Consular Affairs Division
• Protocol Division
• Public Communications Division
• Economic Affairs Division
• Finance Division
• IT Division
• Legal Division
• United Nations and Multilateral Affairs Division
• South Asia and SAARC Division
• Middle East and Africa Division
• Europe, Americas and CIS Division
• East Asia and Pacific Division

Statutory institutions

The old Legislative Council Building, Colombo fort. Today houses the Ministry of External Affairs

• Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS)
• Indian Ocean Marine Affairs Co-operation (IOMAC)

Ministers of Foreign Affairs

Permanent Secretaries

Incomplete

• W.T Jayasinghe
• Bernard Tilakaratna, SLOS
• Rodney Vandergert, SLOS
• Wilhelm Woutersz, SLOS^[1]
• R. C. Vendargart, SLOS ^[2]
• Lionel Fernando, SLAS
• G. Wijesiri, SLOS
• Nihal Rodrigo, SLOS
• B. A. B. Goonetilleke, SLOS
• H. M. G. S. Palihakkara, SLOS
• Dr. Palitha T.B. Kohona
• Karunatilaka Amunugama, SLOS
• Kshenuka Seneviratne, SLOS

See also

• Ministries of Sri Lanka

References

External links

• Government of Sri Lanka
• Official Website of Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• The Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies
• A Sri Lankan Diplomatic Success Story in the 18th Century

Foreign relations of Sri Lanka Africa Kenya South Africa Americas Cuba United States Asia Bangladesh China India Indonesia Iran Japan Malaysia Maldives Pakistan Philippines Europe Denmark Estonia Holy See Hungary Russia Switzerland United Kingdom Oceania Australia Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minister) Diplomatic missions of / in Sri Lanka List of heads of missions from Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Overseas Service Bandaranaike International Diplomatic Training Institute Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies International organizations United Nations G77 IAEA IMF ISO Commonwealth of Nations NAM SAARC UNESCO WHO WTO SAEU BIMSTEC Ministry of Foreign Affairs website

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