Relations between Italy and Sri Lanka have traditionally been good, though not particularly intense. The most recent meetings at the political level date back to September 2021, when at the G20 Interfaith Forum, which took place in Bologna, Undersecretary Della Vedova met with Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Peiris. Previously, in 2019, Undersecretary Di Stefano received the then Sri Lankan Foreign Minister, Tilak Marapana, twice in Rome. The last Italian visit to Sri Lanka was that of then Undersecretary Della Vedova, who traveled to Colombo in May 2016. Sri Lankan Tourism Minister Harin Fernando traveled to Milan in February 2023 to attend BIT and Education Minister Susil Premajayanta to Rome, where he met with his counterpart, Minister Valditara.
Significant was the expression of Italian solidarity after the 2022 crisis through two emergency contributions for the procurement of food and medicines: €340,000 for the purchase of medicines through WHO and an additional contribution of €300,000 from the WFP Emergency Bilateral Fund for interventions in the field of food security. Worth mentioning, although dating back a few years, is the great effort made by Italian cooperation after the tsunami that hit the country in December 2004 (with contributions of more than 100 million euros divided between Foreign and Civil Defense and in programs to convert Sri Lankan debt to Italy).
A MoU on political consultations is currently being negotiated, which envisages the establishment of a consultation mechanism, which will involve holding high-level meetings at least every two years to discuss any matter of mutual interest. In addition, for optimal management of legal and mutually beneficial migration flows with Sri Lanka, whose largest community in the European Union we host in Italy, a MoU on migration and mobility is also being negotiated.
Ambassadors of Italy to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Giovanni Battista CUNEO – 15th June, 1951
Pietro SOLARI – 27th April, 1955
Paolo Enrico DE MICHELIS – 18th December, 1958
Aurelio MASSONE – 3rd September, 1963
Enrico COSTA SANSEVERINO – 12th June, 1964
Fabrizio FABBRICOTTI – 24th October, 1970
Marco VIANELLO CHIODO – 8th April, 1979
Franco MICIELI DE BIASE – 15th July, 1981
Guido MARTINI – 16th May, 1987
Luigi COSTA SANSEVERINO – 27th October, 1990
Italo DI MUCCIO – 1st March, 1995
Maurizio TEUCCI – 21st October, 1997
Salvatore ZOTTA – 30th October, 2001
Pio MARIANI – 1st September, 2005
Rubens Anna FEDELE – 3d March 2010
Fabrizio Pio ARPEA – 21st February 2011
Paolo Andrea BARTORELLI – 16th June 2015
Rita Giuliana MANNELLA – 15th November 2018
Damiano FRANCOVIGH – 14th July 2023