The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia Julie Bishop will undertake an official visit to Sri Lanka from 19-20 July 2017.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will meet Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayake on Wednesday 19 July 2017 evening for bilateral talks at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, that would be followed by Statements to the Media. The two Ministers would also witness the official exchange of letter of intent and announcement of a dengue eradication programme between the two countries. Minister Bishop would be hosted for an official dinner by Minister Karunanayake.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Singapore Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan will undertake an official visit to Sri Lanka from 17-21 July 2017.

Minister Balakrishnan is expected to call on President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Leader of the Opposition R. Sampanthan during his visit.  The Foreign Minister will meet Foreign Affairs Minister Ravi Karunanayake on Tuesday 18 July 2017 for bilateral talks, that would be followed by Statements to the Media. He will also have meetings with Minister of Megapolis and Western Development Champika Ranawaka, Minister of Finance and Mass Media Mangala Samaraweera, Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade Malik Samarawickrama and Minister of Law and Order and Southern Development Sagala Ratnayaka during his visit. The Minister will witness the signing of a MOU between Singapore Red Cross and the Sri Lanka Red Cross on relief and rehabilitation programmes in Sri Lanka.

Seventeen medical professionals of Sri Lankan origin who are members of the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) from the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Norway, the United States, France, Bahrain and Germany worked in partnership with the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement,  alongside local doctors in Kalutara district from 2^nd to 6^th July and in Matara district from 7^th July to 10th July, including in villages and flood relief camps. Within the 10 day period, approximately 780 patients were given medical, dental and ophthalmological treatment, that included a children’s home and orphanage. 300 pairs of reading glasses and sunglasses were also gifted to people by the doctors.

Over 37 Sri Lanka Missions abroad celebrated the 150^th anniversary of Ceylon tea this month in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Tea Board and the Colombo Tea Traders’ Association under the aegis of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The globally known Ceylon tea first originated in Sri Lanka since the introduction of tea cultivation in 1867 by Scotsman named “James Tailor” who is known as the “Father of Tea”. With the passage of time, tea from Ceylon became a well-known name among the tea connoisseurs around the world. Sri Lanka’s unique tropical environment provides an ideal nursery for the tea plant with the abundance of rain. Particularly the black tea originated from Sri Lanka has earned a global reputation.

State Minister of Foreign Affairs Vasantha Senanayake visited Romania on 29 June – 2 July 2017 for the second session of the Sri Lanka-Romania bilateral political consultations. He reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s commitment to further advance and consolidate its longstanding bilateral ties with Romania, when he met the Romanian Secretary of State for Bilateral Global Affairs Monica Gheorghita on 29 June 2017.  This was the first official visit undertaken by the State Minister for Foreign Affairs since assuming the new portfolio.

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Government of Sri Lanka signed a financing agreement at a value of USD 33.7 million that will help 57,500 rural households in Sri Lanka to increase their incomes and food security by expanding livelihood and business opportunities in agriculture. The signing ceremony was held on 26^th of June, 2017, at the IFAD’s Headquarters.

The contemporary human being, suffering from limitless greed, is engaged in a journey of unending desire for material wealth. This devastating behaviour has influenced to create disunity and mistrust among people and spread unease among them.

The mutual respect, equality, sacrifice and helping the poor which are practiced in society during the month of Ramalan, which is practiced by the entire Muslim community with utmost devotion, shows that the emancipation of the humans depends not on the self-interest but on the feeling of the other’s welfare.

Hon. Governors and Ministers, Your Excellencies, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen: It gives me great pleasure, as the new Chairman of the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute, to address this eminent gathering of policymakers, diplomats, scholars, corporate leaders, lawyers, civil society, and students, at this landmark event on Sri Lanka’s foreign policy.

It has been a little over a month since I became Foreign Minister. I am conscious that I have assumed an office and responsibilities previously held by some of our most illustrious leaders, not least by the late Hon. Lakshman Kadirgamar after whom this Institute is fittingly named, but also by Mr. A.C.S. Hameed, Mrs. Bandaranaike, and several others, each of whom left invaluable legacies for our international relations.

Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the USA, Prasad Kariyawasam, who has been a member of the UN Committee on Migrant Workers since its inception in March 2004, and the first Chair of the Committee , was re-elected for the fourth time at the Election held at the UN in New York on 28 June 2017, at the 8^th Meeting of State Parties to the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families.