Minister of Foreign Affairs (Sri Lanka)

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka
විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍ය
Incumbent
Ali Sabry
since 22 July 2022
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
StyleHonourable
NominatorPresident
AppointerThe President with advice of the Prime Minister
Inaugural holderDon Stephen Senanayake
Formation24 September 1947
Websitewww.mea.gov.lk

The Minister of Foreign Affairs is an appointment in the Cabinet of Sri Lanka who is responsible for overseeing the international diplomacy of the Government of Sri Lanka. The post was first created in 1947 as Minister of External Affairs and Defence, in 1977 the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence separated into two ministries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence.[1] Prior to the separation of the post the Minister of External Affairs and Defence was held by the Prime Minister since 1947, with a Parliamentary Secretary for Defence and External Affairs who was an elected parliamentarian and was the de facto foreign minister.

List of ministers

Parties

  United National Party (13)
  Sri Lanka Freedom Party (9)
  Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (2)
  Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (1)

  • Died or assassinated in office
No. Portrait Minister
(Birth-Death)
Constituency
Term of office Political party Ministry Head of Government
From To Period
Minister of Defence and External Affairs
1 Don Stephen Senanayake
දොන් ස්ටීවන් සේනානායක
(1884–1952)
MP for Mirigama District

(Prime Minister)
24 September
1947
22 March
1952[†]
4 years, 180 days United National Party Don Stephen Self
2 Dudley Senanayake
ඩඩ්ලි ශෙල්ටන් සේනානායක
(1911–1973)
MP for Dedigama District

(Prime Minister)
22 March
1952
12 October
1953
1 year, 204 days Dudley I Self
3 General
Sir John Kotelawala
ශ්‍රිමත් ජෝන් ලයනල් කොතලාවල
(1897–1980)
MP for Dodangaslanda District

(Prime Minister)
12 October
1953
12 April
1956
2 years, 183 days Kotelawala Self
4 S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike
සොලොමන් වෙස්ට් රිජ්වේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක
(1899–1959)
MP for Attanagalla District

(Prime Minister)
12 April
1956
26 September
1959[†]
3 years, 167 days Sri Lanka Freedom Party Solomon Self
5 Wijeyananda Dahanayake
විජයානන්ද දහනායක
(1902–1997)
MP for Galle District

(Prime Minister)
26 September
1959
20 March
1960
176 days Dahanayake Self
(2) Dudley Senanayake
ඩඩ්ලි ශෙල්ටන් සේනානායක
(1911–1973)
MP for Dedigama District

(Prime Minister)
21 March
1960
21 July
1960
122 days United National Party Dudley II Self
6 Sirimavo Bandaranaike
සිරිමාවෝ බණ්ඩාරනායක
(1916–2000)
MP for Attanagalla District

(Prime Minister)
21 July
1960
25 March
1965
4 years, 247 days Sri Lanka Freedom Party Sirimavo I Self
(2) Dudley Senanayake
ඩඩ්ලි ශෙල්ටන් සේනානායක
(1911–1973)
MP for Dedigama District

(Prime Minister)
25 March
1965
29 May
1970
5 years, 65 days United National Party Dudley III Self
(6) Sirimavo Bandaranaike
සිරිමාවෝ බණ්ඩාරනායක
(1916–2000)
MP for Attanagalla District

(Prime Minister)
29 May
1970
23 July
1977
7 years, 55 days Sri Lanka Freedom Party Sirimavo II Self
Minister of Foreign Affairs
7 Abdul Cader Shahul Hameed
අබ්දුල් කාදර් ෂාහුල් හමීඩ්
(1927–1999)
MP for Harispattuwa District
23 July
1977
2 January
1989
11 years, 206 days United National Party Jayewardene J. R. Jayewardene
2 January
1989
14 February
1989
Premadasa Ranasinghe Premadasa
8 General
Ranjan Wijeratne
රන්ජන් විජේරත්න
(1931–1991)
National List MP
18 February
1989
28 March
1990
1 year, 38 days
9 Harold Herath
හැරල්ඩ් හේරත්
(1930–2007)
MP for Puttalam District
30 March
1990
1 May
1993
3 years, 135 days
1 May
1993
12 August
1993
Wijetunga Dingiri Banda Wijetunga
(7) Abdul Cader Shahul Hameed
අබ්දුල් කාදර් ෂාහුල් හමීඩ්
(1927–1999)
MP for Kandy District
12 August
1993
15 August
1994
1 year, 3 days
10 Sri Lankabhimanya
Lakshman Kadirgamar
ලක්ෂ්මන් කදිර්ගාමර්
(1932–2005)
National List MP
19 August
1994
12 November
1994
7 years, 52 days Sri Lanka Freedom Party
12 November
1994
10 October
2001
Kumaratunga Chandrika Kumaratunga
11 Tyronne Fernando
ටිරොන් ෆර්නැන්ඩො
(1941–2008)
MP for Colombo District
12 December
2001
7 February
2004
2 years, 57 days United National Party
(10) Sri Lankabhimanya
Lakshman Kadirgamar
ලක්ෂ්මන් කදිර්ගාමර්
(1932–2005)
National List MP
10 April
2004
12 August
2005[†]
1 year, 124 days Sri Lanka Freedom Party
12 Anura Bandaranaike
අනුර බණ්ඩාරනායක
(1949–2008)
MP for Gampaha District
23 August
2005
22 November
2005
91 days
13 Mangala Samaraweera
මංගල සමරවීර
(1956–2021)
MP for Matara District
23 November
2005
27 January
2007
1 year, 65 days Mahinda Mahinda Rajapaksa
14 Rohitha Bogollagama
රෝහිත බෝගොල්ලාගම
(born 1954)
MP for Kurunegala District
28 January
2007
9 April
2010
3 years, 71 days
15 G. L. Peiris
ගාමිණී ලක්ශ්මන් පීරිස්
(born 1946)
National List MP
23 April
2010
12 January
2015
4 years, 264 days
(13) Mangala Samaraweera
මංගල සමරවීර
(1956–2021)
MP for Matara District
12 January
2015
22 May
2017
2 years, 130 days United National Party Sirisena I Maithripala Sirisena
Sirisena II
16 Ravi Karunanayake
රවී කරුණානායක
(born 1963)
MP for Colombo District
22 May
2017
10 August
2017
80 days
Vasantha Senanayake
වසන්ත සේනානායක
(born 1973)
MP for Polonnaruwa District

(Acting)
10 August
2017
15 August
2017
5 days
17 Tilak Marapana
තිලක් මාරපන
(born 1942)
National List MP
15 August
2017
26 October
2018
1 year, 72 days
18 Sarath Amunugama
සරත් ලීලානන්ද බණඩාර අමුනුගම
(born 1939)
National List MP
29 October
2018
15 December
2018
47 days Sri Lanka Freedom Party Sirisena III
(17) Tilak Marapana
තිලක් මාරපන
(born 1942)
National List MP
20 December
2018
21 November
2019
336 days United National Party Sirisena IV
Minister of Foreign Relations
19 Dinesh Gunawardena
දිනේෂ් ගුණවර්ධන
(born 1949)
MP for Colombo District
22 November
2019
16 August
2021
1 year, 267 days Mahajana Eksath Peramuna Gotabaya I Gotabaya Rajapaksa
Gotabaya II
(15) G. L. Peiris
ගාමිණී ලක්ශ්මන් පීරිස්
(born 1946)
National List MP
16 August
2021
21 July
2022
339 days Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna
Gotabaya III
Gotabaya IV
Minister of Foreign Affairs
20 Ali Sabry
අලි සබ්රි
(born 1970)
National List MP
22 July
2022
Incumbent 1 year, 251 days United National Party Wickremesinghe Ranil Wickremesinghe

See also

References

  1. ^ "Overview". Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Sri Lanka. Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 2024-02-06.

External links

  • Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  • Sri Lanka 54th Independence Anniversary, Colonial rule to independence, by Aryadasa Ratnasinghe
  • Sri Lankan Foreign Ministers
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