Ambassador Kariyawasam assumes duties in Washington

Ambassador Prasad Kariyawasam assumed duties at the Embassy of Sri Lanka to United States in Washington D.C. on June 23, 2014.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to receive Ambassador Kariyawasam on July 14, 2014 at the Oval Office of the White House at a ceremony accepting the credentials of the new Sri Lankan envoy.

Ambassador Kariyawasam joined the Sri Lanka Foreign Service in 1981 and has held various diplomatic assignments including High Commissioner for Sri Lanka to India, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in New York.

Prasad Kariyawasam, who joined the Service in 1981 held diplomatic assignments in Geneva (1983-1987), Riyadh (1989-1992), Washington (1995-1998), New Delhi (1998-2001), Geneva (2001-2004), New York (2005-2008) and New Delhi (2009 - 2014). In his last assignment as High Commissioner for Sri Lanka to India in Delhi he was concurrently accredited as the Ambassador for Sri Lanka to Bhutan and Afghanistan.

From 1998 to 2001 he served as the Deputy High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in India, holding the rank of an Ambassador.

In Geneva, from 2001 to 2004 he served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, while also holding the positions of Consul General of Sri Lanka to Switzerland, Personal Representative of the Head of State of Sri Lanka to the G-15 and concurrently accredited Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Holy See in the Vatican.