President Anura Kumara Dissanayake formally received credentials from six newly appointed diplomatic representatives at a ceremony at the Presidential Secretariat on Monday, accrediting four ambassadors and two high commissioners to Sri Lanka.
Those presenting credentials were Major General (Retired) Nayyar Naseer as High Commissioner of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan; Saleh Mubarak Al-Sarawi as Ambassador of the State of Kuwait; Monsignor Andrzej Józwowicz as Apostolic Nuncio of the Vatican; Vincent Sumale as High Commissioner of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea; Abdullahi Mohammed Odowa as Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Somalia; and Christian Biever as Ambassador of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
The President extended congratulations to all six envoys and invited them to work with his government to strengthen bilateral ties, NewsFirst reported.
The accreditations come at a particularly sensitive moment for several of the postings. Pakistan’s new High Commissioner arrives as Islamabad is attempting to mediate between Washington and Tehran, with the Pakistani capital hosting the long-delayed second round of US-Iran nuclear talks — talks Iran’s foreign ministry said on Monday it had no plan to attend.
Kuwait’s new Ambassador assumes duties amid heightened Gulf tensions, including the US seizure of the Iranian cargo vessel Touska. The Vatican’s Apostolic Nuncio has arrived on the eve of the Easter Sunday bombings seventh anniversary, a date carrying deep significance for Sri Lanka’s Catholic community.
Sri Lanka maintains full diplomatic relations with all six accrediting states. The Luxembourg and Papua New Guinea envoys are non-resident, reflecting Colombo’s broadening reach into smaller European and Pacific partners.
