The Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( Sinhala: විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය ''Vidhesha Katayuthu Amathyanshaya'';

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

: வெளிநாட்டலுவல்கள் அமைச்சு) (also known as the Foreign Ministry or External Affairs Ministry) is a

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

ministry of the

Government of Sri Lanka The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජය, Śrī Lankā Rajaya; ta, இலங்கை அரசாங்கம்) is a parliamentary system determined by the Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the isl ...

responsible for conducting and managing Sri Lanka's foreign relations through oversight of its missions abroad via the

Sri Lanka Overseas Service The Sri Lanka Overseas Service (SLOS) ( Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා විදේශ සේවය; śrī laṁkā vidēśa sēvaya) which is most commonly referred to as the ''Sri Lanka Foreign Service'' is the foreign service of Sri Lank ...

, as well as drafting and general implementation of the nation's foreign policy.

History

The ministry was formally established in 1948 following the independence of Ceylon as the

Ministry of External Affairs and Defence Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

, coming under the direct control of the

Prime Minister of Ceylon The Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head and most senior member of parliament in the cabinet of ministers. It is the second-most powerful position in Sri Lanka's executive branch behind the president, w ...

. In 1977 the government led by J.R Jayawardena divided the ministry in two, forming the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

and the Ministry of External Affairs. A.C.S Hameed was appointed as the first minister of External Affairs on 23 July 1977.

Overseas missions

The ministry has 65 overseas missions including 13 High Commissions, a Deputy High Commission, 37 Embassies, 2 Permanent Representations to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...

, 11 consulates and a representative office. It provides consular assistance to Sri Lankans traveling, working and studying overseas.

Divisions

* 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

Permanent Secretaries

Bernard Tilakaratna Bernard Tilakaratna, SLOS (1927–2004) was a senior diplomat and bureaucrat of the Sri Lankan government. He was an ambassador to many countries and prior to retirement was the permanent secretary to Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Early life He w ...

, SLOS *

Rodney Vandergert Rodney Clement Austen Vandergert (11 May 1935 – 4 May 2009) was a prominent Sri Lankan diplomat and civil servant, who served as the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka and Chairman of the Public Service Commissi ...

, SLOS *

Wilhelm Woutersz Thelmuth Harris Wilhelm Woutersz (19 July 1939 - 16 November 2003) was a prominent Sri Lankan diplomat and civil servant, who served as the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka. He had served as Sri Lankan Ambass ...

, SLOSWilhelm Woutersz, BY J. B. Muller
/ref> * R. C. Vendargart, SLOS * 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 Esala Ruwan Weerakoon is a Sri Lankan diplomat who is the current SAARC Secretary General, in office since March 2020. He served as permanent secretary to the Ministry of Tourism Development and permanent secretary of the Ministry of Foreign ...

, SLOS * Prasad Kariyawasam, SLOS * Ravinatha Aryasinha, SLOS *

Jayanath Colombage Admiral Jayanath Colombage, RSP, VSV, USP, FNI is a Sri Lankan flag officer and diplomat. He was the Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Foreign Secretary) until 2022, prior to which he served as Additional Secretary to the Presi ...

, SLOS * Aruni Wijewardane

References

External links

Government of Sri Lanka

Official Website of Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations Office at Geneva

The Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Sri Lanka)

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy a ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Sri Lanka, Foreign Affairs