WASHINGTON: Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the United States, Ravinatha P. Aryasinha had his copy of credentials accepted by the US State Department on 4 December 2020. In line with the COVID protocols, the formal ceremony was dispensed with and he will now function as the Ambassador and Head of Mission, pending the formal presentation of credentials to the President of the United States.
Presently the senior most officer of the Sri Lanka Foreign Service (SLFS), until recently he was the Foreign Secretary of Sri Lanka serving close to two years, under three political administrations. Previously, he served as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Belgium, Luxembourg and the European Union (2008- 2012) and as the Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva and Consul General of Sri Lanka to Switzerland (2012-2018), while being concurrently accredited as Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the Holy See. He has also served in the USA from 2002-2006, the latter period as Deputy Chief of Mission with Ambassador Rank, and from 1989-1991 as Second Secretary at the Sri Lanka High Commission in India.
A pioneer in the setting up of Rupavahini – Sri Lanka TV in 1982, he was a Political Correspondent until he joined the SLFS in 1988. Between 1995-2000 and 2007-2008 he served as the Foreign Ministry Spokesman, and from April – October 2018 as Additional Secretary/ Economic Affairs and Trade in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Ambassador Aryasinha received his secondary education at Ananda College. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Peradeniya and a Master of Arts Degree in International Relations from the University of Colombo. He was a ‘Hurst Fellow in International Relations’ at the School of International Service (SIS), American University, Washington DC in 2001-2002.
Earlier as a college student, he was awarded an ‘American Field Service (AFS) Scholarship’ and spent the academic year 1978-79 in the USA. In 1985, he received the ‘Ten Outstanding Young Persons of Sri Lanka’ Award by the Jaycees Junior Chamber International for his contribution to the field of Media.
