The External Affairs Ministry in Colombo nominated yesterday senior diplomat Vadivel Krishnamoorthy as its next envoy to Riyadh.
The nomination comes just two weeks after his predecessor was withdrawn following the execution of Sri Lankan housemaid Rizana Nafeek, who was convicted of murder.
Following Nafeek’s execution on Jan. 9 , the Colombo government asked the ambassador in Saudi Arabia to return to Colombo on completion of his tour of duty in the Kingdom.
Ambassador Ahmed A. Jawad returned to Colombo on Jan. 27.
External Affairs Ministry sources from Colombo told Arab News that Krishnamoorthy was personally hand-picked by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa to strengthen the bilateral relations between the Kingdom and Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka set up its embassy in Jeddah in 1983 with Dickman De Alwis as its first charge d’ Affaires. In 1993, Saudi government reciprocated with a mission in Colombo with Abdullah Al-Zahrani as its charge d’affaires. Later, the Lankan embassy moved its location to the capital in 1985.
This is the first time a non-Muslim has been appointed as ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Former ambassadors included M.R.M. Thassim, A.L.M. Hashim, Cader Markar, Izzat Ahamed, Javid Yusuf, Nowfel Salih Jabir, Ibrahim Sahib Ansar, A.M.J.Sadiq, A.A.M.Marleen and Jawad.
Krishnamoorthy is a senior career diplomat currently attached to External Affairs Ministry as its director general for the South-East Asia and SAARC.
His last overseas posting was as the Deputy High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in Chennai, south India. He succeeded Ambassador P.M. Amza who completed his three-year posting here and moved to London as the Deputy High Commissioner and now the island’s ambassador in Brussels.
Krishnamoorthy had earlier served as High Commissioner at Dhaka (Bangladesh) and has completed his three-year term before he was cross posted for Chennai.
Krishnamoorthy has more then 33 years of public service, which includes more than 20 years in Foreign Service, holding a wide range of posts. He was in Bangladesh (2006-09).
Before that he was the Director-General of the UN and Multilateral Affairs Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for two years (2004-06).
He also attended the 60th United Nations General Assembly Session in New York and the Board of Governors Meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna.
Krishnamoorthy had earlier served in The Netherlands (2001-04) and China (1992-97). While serving as the Minister Counselor at the embassy in The Netherlands, he functioned as the Deputy Permanent Representative to the Organization of the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).