Apr 05, Colombo: The Sri Lankan government says it plans to restructure the country's overseas missions to reflect the changing ground situation in the world.
External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L. Peiris has told parliament Wednesday that the overseas missions would be restructured in order to use minimum resources to open new Sri Lankan missions in several countries.
He has said the country would open new missions in several countries including Nigeria, Mauritania, Mauritius and Seychelles and upgrade the Consulate office in Turkey to a mission.
The Minister has explained that the new missions would help Sri Lanka get the maximum advantage in bi-lateral relations.
According to Peiris, Sri Lanka is also looking at increasing diplomatic ties with the former Soviet states known as the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) including Azerbaijan.
The Minister has pointed out that the importance of Sri Lankan missions in some countries has declined and it is time to change the archaic system that is currently in place.
The government recently said that it has decided to shut down several diplomatic missions in Europe while establishing several new missions in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
Sri Lankan missions in Poland, Netherlands, Austria Norway and Sweden are to be closed and one mission is to be established to oversee affairs in these countries, the government said.
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