Sri Lanka celebrates 25 years of resilient diplomatic ties with Lithuania

The year 2021 marks the 25th anniversary of the official establishment of bilateral relations between the Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and the Republic of Lithuania. 

Lithuania is a former Soviet republic (also known as Soviet Lithuania or Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, was one of the constituent republics of the USSR between 1940-1941 and 1944-1990) seceded from the Russian Federation on 11 March in 1990, and became an independent democratic state. Since then, Lithuania has sought to build friendly and independent foreign relations with many countries around the world. Lithuania established official foreign relations with Sri Lanka on 20 August in 1996, while establishing itself as an independent state, having served as a friendly member government of the European Union. 

Since the commencement of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Lithuania, the Ministry of External Affairs of Sri Lanka appointed the excellent diplomat Alfred Kulendran of Sri Lanka to establish diplomatic relations with Lithuania as the Ambassador to represent Sri Lanka. He was the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Sweden from 1996 to 1999 whilst he served as the Associate Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Lithuania.  Mohhamad Anzar Jabir was appointed by the Lithuanian government as the first Lithuanian Consul in Sri Lanka from 1996 to 2014. Following his untimely demise, the Lithuanian Embassy in Sri Lanka temporarily closed its office in Sri Lanka. 

With the prior recommendation and approval of the Government of Lithuania, in a short time period, the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, re-established the Lithuanian Consulate by appointing R.M. Mannivannan in the year 2015. He is the Chairman of Supreme Global Group, a reputed and leading commercial company in Sri Lanka. Limonas Talat Kelpsa was the first Lithuanian Ambassador to Sri Lanka, appointed by the Government of Lithuania. 

Julius Pranevičius is currently the concurrent Ambassador of the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Sri Lanka. Over the past 25 years, foreign relations between Sri Lanka and Lithuania have been developing in a strong manner. The two countries have made significant strides in the fields of tourism, commerce, higher education, and technology. They have been contributing very positively with a friendly approach to the decisions taken by the association, for the betterment and the prosperity of Sri Lanka. 

During an official visit to Sri Lanka in 2019 and 2020, the current Lithuanian Ambassador to Sri Lanka said in bilateral discussions with the Sri Lankan government and political leaders, that Lithuania will actively pursue economic, investment opportunities, tourism, higher education, employment opportunities, and new technologies in the future whilst the Lithuanian government is intending to extend their fullest support to Sri Lanka. Further, he stated that how the government is working to strengthen the relationship between the two countries and build broader diplomatic relations in the future. 

Manivannan, who is presently the Lithuanian Consul in Sri Lanka, has been strengthening the bilateral relations between Lithuania and Sri Lanka since 2015. He immensely contributed to expanding the scope of foreign employment and promoting investment opportunities. He further pursued rapid increase of Lithuanian tourists visiting Sri Lanka as a contribution to the tourism industry. Due to the global pandemic, COVID-19, and at a time when the tourism industry was affected and at a standstill, he was able to make Sri Lanka the most popular and attractive South Asian tourist destination for Lithuania.  It is also a great achievement that the Lithuanian Consulate in Sri Lanka has been able to increase the number of Sri Lankan students pursuing higher studies in popular universities in Lithuania. 

The Lithuanian Embassy is in the process of re-entering a broader diplomatic approach under the post-COVID-19 generalisation, in this year, which marks the culmination of 25 years of strong, bilateral state relations between Sri Lanka and Lithuania.