Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Sri Lanka)

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Ministry of Foreign Affairs
විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍යාංශය
வெளிநாட்டலுவல்கள் அமைச்சு
Permanent Secretary (Foreign Secretary)
Child agencies
Websitemfa.gov.lk

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 policy.[2]

History

The ministry was formally established in 1948

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

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

  • 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

Secretaries to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Informally referred to as the Foreign Secretary.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Organizations". gic.gov.lk. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  2. ^ "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.
  3. ^ "Brief Overview of Sri Lanka's Foreign Relations to Post-Independence – Foreign Ministry – Sri Lanka". Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  4. ^ Venugopal, Rajesh. "The Politics of Market Reform at a Time of Ethnic Conflict: Sri Lanka in the Jayewardene Years" (PDF).
  5. ^ "Former Foreign Ministers". MFA.gov.lk. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  6. ^ Bandara, M.H.M.N. (7 October 2007). "Invest further for a fruitful harvest". SundayObserver.lk. Sunday Observer. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  7. ^ Wilhelm Woutersz, BY J. B. Muller

External links