Foreign Secretary

Ms. Aruni Wijewardane assumed duties as Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 22 May 2022.

Ms. Wijewardane is a career diplomat and joined the Sri Lanka Foreign Service in 1988. During her career of over 35 years, she has held many positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Colombo, including Additional Secretary United Nations and Multilateral Affairs Division (also previously Director, and Director General UN and MA Division), Director General West Division, Director South Asia and SAARC Divison and Director Economic Affairs Divison of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  

Overseas she has served in the Sri Lanka Mission to the UN in Geneva (Second Secretary), Sri Lanka High Commission in Malaysia (Deputy High Commissioner), Sri Lanka Embassy in Philippines (Deputy Chief of Mission). She was appointed  Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Representative to the UN Organizations in Vienna, with several concurrent accreditations  2005-2008.

On secondment from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2013-2020, as an international civil servant, Aruni Wijewardane served as the Director of the Secretariat of Policy-Making Organs, and Secretary to the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Vienna.

In the academic field (2011- 2013) related to nonproliferation and disarmament, Foreign Secretary Wijewardane served as Director International Organizations and Nonproliferation Programme , Centre for Nonproliferation  Studies (CNS), Middlebury Institute for International Studies (MIIS),  USA .

Aruni Wijewardane  has an MPhil degree from the University of Cambridge, UK  (British Chevening scholar), a Master’s degree from the University of Colombo, and a BA degree ( English Literature) from the University of Western Australia.

She is fluent in Sinhalese (mother tongue) English and French.

She is married with two children.