Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka
විදේශ කටයුතු අමාත්‍ය
Incumbent Ali Sabry since 22 July 2022
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Style	Honourable
Nominator	President
Appointer	The President with advice of the Prime Minister
Inaugural holder	Don Stephen Senanayake
Formation	24 September 1947
Website	www.mea.gov.lk

The Minister of Foreign Affairs is an appointment in the Cabinet of Sri Lanka who is responsible for overseeing the international diplomacy of the Government of Sri Lanka. The post was first created in 1947 as Minister of External Affairs and Defence, in 1977 the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence separated into two ministries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence.^[1] Prior to the separation of the post the Minister of External Affairs and Defence was held by the Prime Minister since 1947, with a Parliamentary Secretary for Defence and External Affairs who was an elected parliamentarian and was the de facto foreign minister.

List of ministers

Parties

  United National Party (13)
  Sri Lanka Freedom Party (9)
  Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (2)
  Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (1)

• ^† Died or assassinated in office

No.	Portrait		Minister (Birth-Death) Constituency	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Head of Government
				From	To	Period
Minister of Defence and External Affairs
1			Don Stephen Senanayake (1884–1952) MP for Mirigama (Prime Minister)	24 September 1947	22 March 1952[†]	4 years, 180 days	United National Party	Don Stephen	Self
2			Dudley Senanayake (1911–1973) MP for Dedigama (Prime Minister)	22 March 1952	12 October 1953	1 year, 204 days		Dudley I	Self
3			John Kotelawala (1897–1980) MP for Dodangaslanda (Prime Minister)	12 October 1953	12 April 1956	2 years, 183 days		Kotelawala	Self
4			S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike (1899–1959) MP for Attanagalla (Prime Minister)	12 April 1956	26 September 1959[†]	3 years, 167 days	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Solomon	Self
5			Wijeyananda Dahanayake (1902–1997) MP for Galle (Prime Minister)	26 September 1959	20 March 1960	176 days		Dahanayake	Self
(2)			Dudley Senanayake (1911–1973) MP for Dedigama (Prime Minister)	21 March 1960	21 July 1960	122 days	United National Party	Dudley II	Self
6			Sirimavo Bandaranaike (1916–2000) MP for Attanagalla (Prime Minister)	21 July 1960	25 March 1965	4 years, 247 days	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Sirimavo I	Self
(2)			Dudley Senanayake (1911–1973) MP for Dedigama (Prime Minister)	25 March 1965	29 May 1970	5 years, 65 days	United National Party	Dudley III	Self
(6)			Sirimavo Bandaranaike (1916–2000) MP for Attanagalla (Prime Minister)	29 May 1970	23 July 1977	7 years, 55 days	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Sirimavo II	Self
Minister of Foreign Affairs
7			Abdul Cader Shahul Hameed (1927–1999) MP for Harispattuwa	23 July 1977	2 January 1989	11 years, 206 days	United National Party	Jayewardene	J. R. Jayewardene
				2 January 1989	14 February 1989			Premadasa	Ranasinghe Premadasa
8			General Ranjan Wijeratne (1931–1991) National List MP	18 February 1989	28 March 1990	1 year, 38 days
9			Harold Herath (1930–2007) MP for Puttalam	30 March 1990	12 August 1993	3 years, 135 days
				1 May 1993	12 August 1993			Wijetunga	Dingiri Banda Wijetunga
(7)			Abdul Cader Shahul Hameed (1927–1999) MP for Kandy	12 August 1993	15 August 1994	1 year, 3 days
10			Lakshman Kadirgamar (1932–2005) National List MP	19 August 1994	12 November 1994	7 years, 52 days	Sri Lanka Freedom Party
				12 November 1994	10 October 2001			Kumaratunga	Chandrika Kumaratunga
11			Tyronne Fernando (1941–2008) MP for Colombo	12 December 2001	7 February 2004	2 years, 57 days	United National Party
(10)			Lakshman Kadirgamar (1932–2005) National List MP	10 April 2004	12 August 2005[†]	1 year, 124 days	Sri Lanka Freedom Party
12			Anura Bandaranaike (1949–2008) MP for Gampaha	23 August 2005	22 November 2005	91 days
13			Mangala Samaraweera (1956–2021) MP for Matara	23 November 2005	27 January 2007	1 year, 65 days		Mahinda	Mahinda Rajapaksa
14			Rohitha Bogollagama (born 1954) MP for Kurunegala	28 January 2007	9 April 2010	3 years, 71 days
15			G. L. Peiris (born 1946) National List MP	23 April 2010	12 January 2015	4 years, 264 days
(13)			Mangala Samaraweera (1956–2021) MP for Matara	12 January 2015	22 May 2017	2 years, 130 days	United National Party	Sirisena I	Maithripala Sirisena
								Sirisena II
16			Ravi Karunanayake (born 1963) MP for Colombo	22 May 2017	10 August 2017	80 days
–			Vasantha Senanayake (born 1973) MP for Polonnaruwa (Acting)	10 August 2017	15 August 2017	5 days
17			Tilak Marapana (born 1942) National List MP	15 August 2017	26 October 2018	1 year, 72 days
18			Sarath Amunugama (born 1939) National List MP	29 October 2018	15 December 2018	47 days	Sri Lanka Freedom Party	Sirisena III
(17)			Tilak Marapana (born 1942) National List MP	20 December 2018	18 November 2019	333 days	United National Party	Sirisena IV
Minister of Foreign Relations
19			Dinesh Gunawardena (born 1949) MP for Colombo	22 November 2019	16 August 2021	1 year, 267 days	Mahajana Eksath Peramuna	Gotabaya I	Gotabaya Rajapaksa
								Gotabaya II
(15)			G. L. Peiris (born 1946) National List MP	16 August 2021	21 July 2022	339 days	Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna
								Gotabaya III
								Gotabaya IV
Minister of Foreign Affairs
20			Ali Sabry (born 1970) National List MP	22 July 2022	Incumbent	1 year, 232 days	United National Party	Wickremesinghe	Ranil Wickremesinghe