COLOMBO : The United Kingdom hosted the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, together with two Sri Lankan Ministers in London this week for a series of high-level engagements across multilateral, bilateral and academic platforms, underscoring the depth and value of the UK–Sri Lanka partnership. These engagements, spanning the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Education World Forum and the UK Global Partnerships Conference, highlight our shared commitment to international collaboration to boost joint prosperity. Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Dr Harini Amarasuriya
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya visited London to participate in the Commonwealth of Learning Board of Governors Meeting The Prime Minister held discussions with UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, reaffirming the strength of the UK–Sri Lanka partnership and advancing cooperation across key priority areas, including energy security, education, growth and resilience, and human rights. She also met UK Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, to discuss collaboration on education reform, skills development and future-ready learning.
The Prime Minister’s programme took her out of London where she rmet with academics, researchers and students at the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex. At the University of Oxford, the Prime Minister addressed the Oxford School of Global and Area Studies on governance, development cooperation and international partnerships. Here, she also met Sri Lankan Chevening and CRISP scholars where the scholars shared their mpressions of how UK education has created a bridge of opportunity between the two countries. Minister of Women and Child Affairs, Saroja Paulraj Minister Paulraj participated in a Ministerial Roundtable on Global Care Reform, at the invitation of UK Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy. The Minister joined a host of other international partners to advance coordinated global action on child protection and family-based care. It builds on Deputy Prime Minister Lammy’s visit to Colombo in February 2026, when Minister Paulraj signed a Letter of Intent for Sri Lanka to join the UK-led Global Charter for Children’s Care Reform.
The Minister also attended the UK-hosted Global Partnerships Conference, a flagship international conference bringing together governments, private investors, technology leaders, civil society and innovators to help shape the international development system for a new era. One of the focus areas was developing innovative solutions to tackle violence against women, a defining global challenge that is undermining global health, economic growth, development, democracy and security Minister Paulraj’s engagement reflects the strong and ongoing collaboration between the UK and Sri Lanka on child welfare and inclusive development. Deputy Minister of Education Dr Madura Senevirathna Deputy Minister Senevirathna represented Sri Lanka at the 2026 Education World Forum — the world’s largest gathering of education ministers. During the Forum, he shared Sri Lanka’s experiences in harnessing education technology to improve and expand access to learning. Minister Senevirathna also participated in a British Council policy dialogue alongside international education leaders on building resilient, inclusive and future-ready education systems. His participation further underscored the strength of the UK–Sri Lanka education partnership and Sri Lanka’s active engagement on the global education stage. This week of high-level ministerial engagements in London highlighted both countries’ shared commitment to international cooperation and strengthened the strong and enduring people-to-people links between our two nations.
