“I cannot think of a country in the world today where there has been this much change in this short a period of time.” – Ambassador Samantha Power, Colombo, November 23rd
United States Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Samantha Power visited Sri Lanka from November 21st to 23rd. Ambassador Samantha Power is the second cabinet level visitor from the US Administration to travel to Sri Lanka this year, following Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit in May.
High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India Esala Weerakoon presented Credentials to the President of India Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapathi Bhavan in New Delhi on Friday, 13 November 2015.
The newly appointed Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Republic of the Philippines, Mrs. Aruni Ranaraja presented credentials to His Excellency Benigno S. Aquino III, President of the Republic of the Philippines on Thursday, 5th November 2015. The ceremonies included a honour guard at the Malacañan Palace and wreath laying ceremony at the monument of Dr. Jose P . Rizal , the Philippine National Hero. Mr. Albert F. Del Rosario, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Minda Calaguian-Cruz, Assistant Secretary, Office of Asia and Pacific Affairs of the Department of Foreign Affairs, as well as Senior Officials of the Government of the Philippines were present at the ceremonies.
The new Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Sri Lanka to Israel, Mr. Periyasamy Pillai Selvaraj presented his credentials to His Excellency Reuven Rivlin, President of the State of Israel on 02nd November 2015. The ceremonial event was held at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem where the Ambassador was accompanied by Mr. M.R.C.B. Ekanayake, First Secretary and Mr. Hemachandra Gamage, Second Secretary of the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Tel Aviv, Israel.
The State Minister of International Trade of Sri Lanka Hon. Sujeewa Senasinghe undertook a productive visit to the Republic of Korea from 2 to 7 November 2015 on the invitation of the Korean Government, to participate in the Global Infrastructure Cooperation Conference (GICC) organised on 3rd November in Seoul by the Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Harsha De Silva, following his visit to attend the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Summit in Mexico, visited Washington DC on October 30, with a view to further promoting United States-Sri Lanka bilateral relations, in particular on economic and business matters. During his visit, he met senior officials of the US State Department, US Department of Treasury, US Department of Commerce, Office of Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) as well as the World Bank.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe met with Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on 16th October 2015 and discussed further means of promoting bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
