Nihal Rodrigo is a public servant from Sri Lanka who served as Secretary General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation [1] [2] from 1 January 1999 to 10 January 2002 [3] [4] and Foreign Secretary of Sri Lanka. [5] [6] [7] He also served as Ambassador of Sri Lanka to China [8] [6] and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations. [1] [9] [10]
Sri Lanka is a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Sri Lanka is both head of state and head of government, and it relies on a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers. Legislative power is vested in the Parliament. For decades, the party system was dominated by the socialist Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the conservative United National Party. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. Sri Lanka's politics reflect the historical and political differences between the three main ethnic groups, the Sinhala majority and the Tamil and Muslim minorities, the latter two being concentrated in the north and east of the island.
The Maldives has remained an independent nation throughout its recorded history, save for a brief spell of Portuguese occupation in the mid-16th century. From 1887 to 1965, the country was a British protectorate while retaining full internal sovereignty. At its independence in 1965, the Maldives joined the United Nations on 20 September.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a Eurasian political, economic and security organization. It is the world's largest regional organization in terms of geographic scope and population, covering approximately 60% of the area of Eurasia, 40% of the world population, and more than 30% of global GDP.
The Colombo Plan is a regional intergovernmental organization that began operations on 1 July 1951. The organization was conceived at an international conference, The Commonwealth Conference on Foreign Affairs held in Colombo, Ceylon in January 1950, and was attended by the finance ministers of Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Ceylon, Pakistan and New Zealand, and the prime ministers of Ceylon and India. Membership has expanded significantly over the years to the current 28 governments.
Foreign relations of Sri Lanka refers to the diplomatic and commercial relations between Sri Lanka and other countries. Sri Lanka has stressed its principle of "friendship towards all, enmity towards none" in its diplomacy.
The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia. Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. SAARC comprises 3% of the world's land area, 21% of the world's population and 5.21% of the global economy, as of 2021.
The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is an international organisation of seven South Asian and Southeast Asian nations, housing 1.73 billion people and having a combined gross domestic product of US$4.4 trillion (2022). The BIMSTEC member states – Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand – are among the countries dependent on the Bay of Bengal.
Masood Khan is a Pakistani diplomat who is currently serving as Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States. Khan also served as the 27th President of Azad Kashmir. Khan joined the Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1980. From August 2003 to March 2005, he served as the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and International Organisations in Geneva, Switzerland, from 2005 to 2008, Pakistan's Ambassador to China between September 2008 and September 2012 and as Pakistan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York, between October 11, 2012 and February 7, 2015.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a cabinet ministry of the Government of Sri Lanka responsible for conducting and managing Sri Lanka's foreign relations 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.
The Enlargement of the Associationof Southeast Asian Nations is the process of expanding the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) through the accession of new member states. This process began with ASEAN's five original members, who founded the association through the signing of the Bangkok Declaration in 1967. Since then, the ASEAN's membership has grown to ten with the accession of Cambodia in 1999.
Prasad Kariyawasam is a Sri Lankan diplomat and the former Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the top diplomat in Sri Lanka. He was the International Affairs Adviser to Hon.Karu Jayasooriya, Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.He was the former Sri Lankan Ambassador to the United States. with concurrent accreditation as High Commissioner for Sri Lanka to Trinidad & Tobago and Ambassador (designate) to Mexico. He was also the Permanent Observer of Sri Lanka to the Washington-based Organization of American States (OAS).He has also served as Sri Lankan Ambassador to India, Afghanistan and Bhutan.
Ahmed Sareer is a Maldivian diplomat who served as Permanent Representative of the Maldives to the United Nations from 2012 to 2017.
Secretary-General of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, is head of a SAARC Secretariat, which is headquartered in Kathmandu, Nepal. SAARC is an economic and geopolitical union between the eight South Asian member nations, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Secretary-General is appointed for a three-year term by election by a council of Ministers from member states. Secretary-General is assisted by eight deputies, one from each nation, who also reside in Kathmandu. SAARC Secretariat was established in Kathmandu on 16 January 1987 by Bangladeshi diplomat Abul Ahsan, who was its first Secretary-General, and was inaugurated by King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah of Nepal. Since its creation, its member nations have contributed to a total of fourteenth General Secretaries. Sri Lanka's diplomat Esala Weerakoon is the current Secretary-General, having assumed charge on 1 March 2020.
Atul Keshap is an American diplomat and career United States Foreign Service Officer from Virginia who recently served as the Chargé d'affaires of the United States mission to India. He formerly served as U.S. Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the United States Department of State. In January, 2022, he was appointed as the president of U.S.-India Business Council.
Robyn Mudie is an Australian diplomat who most recently served as the Ambassador to Vietnam from 2019 to 2022, and was the High Commissioner to Sri Lanka from 2012 until 2016 with non-resident accreditation to the Maldives.
Mahbub Uz Zaman ia a Bangladesh diplomat and Ambassador of Bangladesh to China. He is the former Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His is the former High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Sri Lanka and Singapore.