View source for Ministry of External Affairs and Defence

{{Short description|Ministry in Ceylon}}
{{Use Sri Lankan English|date=May 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
The '''Ministry of External Affairs and Defence''' was a [[Cabinet of Sri Lanka|cabinet]] [[List of ministries of Sri Lanka|ministry]] of the [[Government of Sri Lanka|Government of Ceylon]] that conducted and managed all of Ceylon's relations with other countries and its military matters from 1947 to 1977.

==History==
The ministry was formally established in 1948 following the independence of Ceylon as the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence, coming under the direct control of the [[Prime Minister of Ceylon]]. In 1977, [[Junius Richard Jayewardene|J.R Jayawardena]]'s government adapted two separate ministries, forming the [[Ministry of Defence (Sri Lanka)|Ministry of Defence]] and the [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Sri Lanka)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Warnapala |first=W. A. Wiswa |year=1979 |title=Sri Lanka 1978: Reversal of Policies and Strategies |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2643784 |journal=Asian Survey |volume=19 |issue=2 |pages=178–190 |doi=10.2307/2643784 |issn=0004-4687}}</ref>

==Senior officials==
*[[Prime Minister of Ceylon|Prime Minister]] and Minister of External Affairs and Defence 
*[[Parliamentary Secretary]] for External Affairs and Defence  
*[[Permanent Secretary]] of the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence

==Departments==
* [[Ceylon Army]]
* [[Royal Ceylon Navy]]
* [[Royal Ceylon Air Force]]
* [[Sri Lanka Police|Police Department]]
* [[Ceylon Overseas Service]]
* Department of Information
* Department of Immigration and Emigration

==Parliamentary Secretaries==
* Hon. [[Richard Gotabhaya Senanayake]] (1947–1952)
* Hon. Major [[Montague Jayawickrama|Montague "Monti" Jayawickreme]] (1952–1956)
* Hon. [[Tikiri Banda Subasinghe]] (1956–1959) 
* Hon. [[Felix Dias Bandaranaike|Felix R. Dias Bandaranaike]] (1960–1964) 
* Hon. [[J. R. Jayewardene]] (1965–1970)
* Hon. [[Lakshman Jayakody]] (1970–1972)

==Deputy Ministers==
* Hon. [[Lakshman Jayakody]] (1972–1977)
* Hon. [[T. B. Werapitiya]] (1977–1981)

==Permanent Secretaries==
The following list of [[Ceylon Civil Service]] Class 1 officers who held the post of [[Permanent Secretary]] to the Ministry of Defence and External Affairs:<ref>{{Cite book |last=Nissanka |first=H. S. S. |title=Sri Lankaʼs Foreign Policy: A Study in Non-alignment |year=1984 |isbn= |pages=85}}</ref>

* Sir [[Kanthiah Vaithianathan]] (1948-1952)
* Sir [[V. Coomaraswamy|Velupillai Coomaraswamy]] (1952-1954) 
* [[Gunasena de Soyza]] (1954-1957)
* [[Herbert Tennekoon]]  (1957-1959)
* [[Merenna Francis de Silva Jayaratne]] (1959-1961)
* [[N. Q. Dias]] (1961–1965)
* [[G.V.P. Samarasinghe]] (1965–1970)
* [[A. R. Ratnavale]] (1970–1972)
* [[W. T. Jayasinghe]] (1972–1977)

===Additional Secretaries===
<small>Incomplete</small> 
* [[S.A. Dissanayake]] – (former [[Inspector General of Police (Sri Lanka)|IGP]])
* [[Tissa Wijeyeratne]]<ref>[https://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2002/07/14/new24.html  Tissa Wijeyeratne, an illustrious son of Lanka] . Sunday Observer. Retrieved 14 July 2002.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Minister of Foreign Affairs (Sri Lanka)]]
* [[Minister of Defence (Sri Lanka)]]
* [[Minister for Internal Security (Ceylon)]]
* [[Diplomatic missions of Sri Lanka]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080828081354/http://www.constitution.gov.lk/Constitutional_Evolution_3.shtml SOULBURY CONSTITUTION]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150810070644/http://www.priu.gov.lk/ Government of Sri Lanka]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071005121017/http://www.slmfa.gov.lk//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=478&Itemid=83 Ministry of Foreign Affairs]

{{Sri Lankan foreign ministers}}
{{Sri Lankan defence ministers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ministry Of External Affairs And Defence}}
[[Category:Defunct government ministries of Sri Lanka|External Affairs]]
[[Category:Foreign relations of Sri Lanka|External Affairs]]
[[Category:Foreign affairs ministries|Ceylon]]
[[Category:Ministers of foreign affairs of Sri Lanka|External Affairs]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan diplomats]]
[[Category:Ministries established in 1947|Sri Lanka, External Affairs]]
[[Category:1947 establishments in Ceylon]]