Minister of Foreign Affairs (Sri Lanka)

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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 1978 the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence separated into two ministries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence. 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 Foreign Ministers[]

Parties

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

Name		Portrait	Party	Tenure	Head(s) of Government		Ministerial title
	Don Stephen Senanayake		United National Party	24 September 1947 - 22 March 1952		Don Stephen Senanayake
	Dudley Senanayake		United National Party	22 March 1952 - 12 October 1953		Dudley Senanayake
	John Kotelawala		United National Party	12 October 1953 - 12 April 1956		John Kotelawala
	S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	12 April 1956 - 26 September 1959		S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike
	Wijeyananda Dahanayake		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	26 September 1959 - 20 March 1960		Wijeyananda Dahanayake
	Dudley Senanayake		United National Party	21 March 1960 - 21 July 1960		Dudley Senanayake
	Sirimavo Bandaranaike		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	21 July 1960 - 25 March 1965		Sirimavo Bandaranaike
	Dudley Senanayake		United National Party	25 March 1965 - 29 May 1970		Dudley Senanayake
	Sirimavo Bandaranaike		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	29 May 1970 - 23 July 1977		Sirimavo Bandaranaike
	J. R. Jayewardene		United National Party	23 July 1977 - 4 February 1978		J. R. Jayewardene
	Abdul Cader Shahul Hameed		United National Party	4 February 1978 - 1989			Minister of Foreign Affairs
	Ranjan Wijeratne		United National Party	1989 - 1991		Ranasinghe Premadasa
	Harold Herath		United National Party	1991 - 1993
	Abdul Cader Shahul Hameed		United National Party	1993 - 1994		Dingiri Banda Wijetunga
	Lakshman Kadirgamar		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	1994 - 2001		Chandrika Kumaratunga
	Tyronne Fernando		United National Party	2001 - 2004
	Lakshman Kadirgamar		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	2004 - 2005
	Anura Bandaranaike		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	August 2005 - 23 November 2005
	Mangala Samaraweera		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	23 November 2005 – 28 January 2007		Mahinda Rajapaksa
	Rohitha Bogollagama		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	28 January 2007 - 8 April 2010
	G. L. Peiris		Sri Lanka Freedom Party	23 April 2010 – 12 January 2015
	Mangala Samaraweera		United National Party	12 January 2015 – 22 May 2017		Maithripala Sirisena
	Ravi Karunanayake		United National Party	22 May 2017 - 10 August 2017
	Wasantha Senanayake (acting)		United National Party	10 August 2017 - 15 August 2017
	Tilak Marapana		United National Party	15 August 2017 - 22 November 2019
	Dinesh Gunawardena		Mahajana Eksath Peramuna	24 November 2019 – Present		Gotabaya Rajapaksa	Minister of Foreign Relations

See also[]

• Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Ministry of External Affairs and Defence

References[]

External links[]

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