Aruni Wijewardane assumes duties as Foreign Ministry Secretary

ECONOMYNEXT – Sri Lankan Diplomat Aruni Wijewardane assumed duties at the Foreign Ministry, as the new Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on 23 May, 2022.

She was appointed as the Secretary in parallel with the first nine cabinet ministers, appointed by the President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on 20 May, 2022, a statement from the ministry said.

Prior to being the Secretary, Wijewardena in her 34 years of service, has held numerous 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 has also served as the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Austria and the Permanent Representative to UN Organizations in Vienna and also served as the Director of the Secretariat of the policy making organs of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.

Wijewardane who is a graduate from the University of Cambridge, UK, has an MPhil degree and also holds a Master’s degree from the University of Colombo and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Western Australia. (Colombo/ May 22/2022)