The newly appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Nirmala Indumathie Dias Paranavitana, 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Taye Atske Selassie, at a formal ceremony held at the National Palace in 𝐀𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐬 𝐀𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐚 𝐨𝐧 𝟐𝟑 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔. The ceremony was conducted in accordance with the diplomatic traditions and state protocol of Ethiopia and included full ceremonial honours, a Guard of Honour and the formal presentation of credentials.
𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐲, President Taye Atske Selassie 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 with Ambassador Paranavitana. During the discussions, the 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 with appreciation the valuable 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐒𝐫𝐢 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐚𝐧 (𝐂𝐞𝐲𝐥𝐨𝐧) 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚 in previous decades and expressed fond memories of the longstanding educational cooperation between the two
countries. He also 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐫𝐢 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 and underscored the importance of further strengthening bilateral relations and cooperation in multilateral fora. The 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 of the Embassy and encouraged continued engagement to explore new avenues of cooperation.
Ambassador Paranavitana conveyed warm greetings and best wishes of the President of Sri Lanka and the people of Sri Lanka to the President and the people of Ethiopia and reaffirmed Sri Lanka's commitment to further 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 between the two countries. She also expressed Sri Lanka's 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚 to expand cooperation in the political, economic, trade, educational and multilateral spheres, while promoting investment, people-to-people contacts and enhanced collaboration in international fora.
The discussions focused on 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 to strengthen economic and trade relations, promote investment, enhance educational and cultural exchanges and 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. Both sides reiterated their commitment to advancing the longstanding friendship and mutually beneficial partnership between Sri Lanka and Ethiopia.
The presentation of credentials 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐫𝐢 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐚–𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 and provides renewed opportunities to further enhance collaboration in areas of mutual interest, including trade, investment, education, tourism, culture and multilateral cooperation, particularly in view of 𝐄𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐚'𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 and host to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
Ambassador Paranavitana is a career diplomat of the Sri Lanka Foreign Service with extensive experience in bilateral and multilateral diplomacy. Prior to her appointment in Addis Ababa, she served as a Director General at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and has held assignments at Sri Lanka Missions in Japan, Sweden, Myanmar, India, and at the Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in New York. She completed studies from University of Delhi and the Australian National University, the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies (BCIS/BIDTI), and the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP). She was selected as a United Nations Law Fellow at The Hague Academy of International Law in 2024 and has a strong academic background in international law and security studies.
