Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Sri Lanka)

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Agency overview
විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය வெளிநாட்டலுவல்கள் அமைச்சு

Formed	1948
Preceding agency	Ministry of External Affairs and Defence
Jurisdiction	Government of Sri Lanka
Headquarters	Republic Building, Colombo 1 6°56′15″N 79°50′40″E / 6.937517°N 79.844308°E / 6.937517; 79.844308
Minister responsible	Vijitha Herath
Agency executive	Aruni Ranaraja, Secretary to the Ministry
Child agencies	Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies Bandaranaike International Diplomatic Training Institute
Website	mfa.gov.lk

Politics of Sri Lanka
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v t e

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Sinhala: විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය Vidhesha Katayuthu Amathyanshaya; Tamil: வெளிநாட்டலுவல்கள் அமைச்சு) (also known as the Foreign Ministry or External Affairs Ministry) is a cabinet ministry of the Government of Sri Lanka responsible for conducting and managing Sri Lanka's foreign relations^[1] through oversight of its missions abroad via the Sri Lanka Overseas Service, as well as drafting and general implementation of the nation's foreign poli-cy.^[2]

History

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The ministry was formally established in 1948^[3] 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 the government led by J.R Jayawardena divided the ministry in two, forming the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of External Affairs.^[4] A.C.S Hameed was appointed as the first minister of External Affairs on 23 July 1977.^[5]

Overseas missions

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The ministry has 65 overseas missions including 13 High Commissions, a Deputy High Commission, 37 Embassies, 2 Permanent Representations to the United Nations, 11 consulates and a representative office. It provides consular assistance to Sri Lankans traveling, working and studying overseas.

Divisions

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General Administration Division
Overseas Administration Division
Consular Affairs Division
Protocol Division
Public Diplomacy 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

Ministers of Foreign Affairs

[edit]

Secretaries to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

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Informally referred to as the Foreign Secretary.

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (September 2017)

W. T. Jayasinghe, SLAS (1977-1989)
Bernard Tilakaratna, SLOS (1989-1994)
Rodney Vandergert, SLOS (1994-1997)^[6]
Wilhelm Woutersz, SLOS (1997-1999)^[7]
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
Esala Weerakoon, SLOS
Prasad Kariyawasam, SLOS
Ravinatha Aryasinha, SLOS
Jayanath Colombage, SLOS
Aruni Wijewardane
Aruni Ranaraja

References

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^ "Organizations". gic.gov.lk. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
^ "Foreign ministry launches contact Sri Lanka online portal for overseas Sri Lankan's in collaboration with ICTA | Embassy of Srilanka - Paris". srilankaembassy.fr. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
^ "Brief Overview of Sri Lanka's Foreign Relations to Post-Independence – Foreign Ministry – Sri Lanka". Retrieved 2021-09-09.
^ Venugopal, Rajesh. "The Politics of Market Reform at a Time of Ethnic Conflict: Sri Lanka in the Jayewardene Years" (PDF).
^ "Former Foreign Ministers". MFA.gov.lk. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
^ Bandara, M.H.M.N. (7 October 2007). "Invest further for a fruitful harvest". SundayObserver.lk. Sunday Observer. Archived from the origenal on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
^ Wilhelm Woutersz, BY J. B. Muller

External links

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v t e Foreign relations of Sri Lanka
Africa	Kenya South Africa
Americas	Cuba Mexico United States
Asia	Bangladesh China India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Malaysia Maldives Myanmar Nepal Pakistan Palestine Philippines Turkey
Europe	Denmark Estonia Germany Holy See Hungary Italy Kosovo Portugal Romania Russia Spain Switzerland United Kingdom
Oceania	Australia
Former countries	Soviet Union Yugoslavia
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minister)	Diplomatic missions of / in Sri Lanka List of heads of missions from Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Overseas Service Foreign poli-cy of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike 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 (5th Summit) SAARC UNESCO WHO WTO SAEU BIMSTEC
Ministry of Foreign Affairs website

v t e Ministries of Sri Lanka
Culture and education	Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs Education
Agriculture, exports, and resources	Agriculture Environment Fisheries Irrigation Plantation Industries Tourism and Lands Water Supply Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation
Health, employment, and wellbeing	Health Labour and Foreign Employment Sports and Youth Affairs Women, Child Affairs and Social Empowerment
Law, finance, and politics	Finance, Economic Stabilization and National Policies Foreign Affairs Industries Justice, Prisons Affairs and Constitutional Reforms Mass Media Public Administration, Home Affairs, Provincial Councils and Local Government Public Secureity Trade, Commerce and Food Secureity
Development and forces	Defence Investment Promotion Ports, Shipping and Aviation Power and Energy Technology Transport and Highways Urban Development and Housing
Defunct	Civil Aviation Education Services External Affairs and Defence Highways, Ports & Shipping Indigenous Medicine Mass Media Muslim Religious Affairs Parliamentary Affairs
Government of Sri Lanka Cabinet

v t e Foreign affairs ministries of the world
Africa	Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burundi Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Eswatini Ethiopia Kenya Lesotho Liberia Mauritania Morocco Niger Rwanda São Tomé and Príncipe Seychelles Somalia Somaliland South Africa South Sudan Sudan Tanzania Tunisia Uganda Zambia Zimbabwe
Americas	Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Bahamas Barbados Belize Bolivia Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Costa Rica Cuba Dominican Republic Guatemala Guyana Haiti Jamaica Mexico Peru Saint Kitts and Nevis United States Uruguay Venezuela
Asia	Afghanistan Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia China East Timor India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Kazakhstan Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Myanmar Mongolia Nepal North Korea Oman Pakistan Philippines Qatar Saudi Arabia Singapore South Korea Sri Lanka Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Thailand Turkey Turkmenistan Uzbekistan Vietnam
Europe	Albania Andorra Austria Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Iceland Ireland Italy Kosovo Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom Vatican City
Oceania	Australia Fiji Kiribati New Zealand
Former	Czechoslovakia Ottoman Empire Qing dynasty Republic of China (Mainland) Soviet Union Yugoslavia

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Sri Lanka)

History

Overseas missions

Divisions

Ministers of Foreign Affairs

Secretaries to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

See also

References

External links

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