Foreign Sect. Admiral Colombage replaced

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has replaced Foreign Secretary Admiral Jayanath Colombage. He has been replaced by Aruni Wijewardane, a career foreign service officer who assumed duties at the Foreign Ministry yesterday. She was appointed as the Secretary with effect from 20 May, 2022.

After a simple ceremony following the assumption of duties, Foreign Secretary Wijewardane addressed the staff officers of the Ministry.

Foreign Secretary Wijewardane counted 34 years as a career diplomat at the time of retirement  and has held many positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Colombo, at Sri Lanka Missions overseas and in international organizations. Her service overseas includes the Sri Lanka Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva, Sri Lanka High Commission in Malaysia and the Sri Lanka Embassy in the Philippines. She also served as the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Austria and the Permanent Representative to UN Organizations in Vienna.

On secondment from the Foreign Ministry, Wijewardane also served as the Director of the Secretariat of the policy making organs of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.

Foreign Secretary Wijewardane has an MPhil degree from the University of Cambridge, UK, where she was a British Chevening Scholar, a Master’s degree from the University of Colombo and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Western Australia.

She is married with two children.