US embassy cable - 05COLOMBO566

UNCLAS COLOMBO 000566 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS, INR/B AND IO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINR, PREL, CE, UN 
SUBJECT: SRI LANKA:  BIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION ON NEW UN 
PERMREP PRASAD KARIYAWASAM 
 
 
1.  (SBU) Prasad Kariyawasam, who has been appointed as Sri 
Lanka's new Permanent Representative to the UN, has been a 
valued Embassy contact whose professionalism, good judgment 
and familiarity with the U.S. have helped advance our 
bilateral economic agenda on a number of key fronts over the 
past eighteen months.  A career diplomat, in his current post 
as Director General for Economic Affairs at the Ministry of 
Foreign Affairs, Kariyawasam has proven a knowledgeable, 
helpful interlocutor on a broad range of subjects, from 
UNGA-related economic issues to free trade to Sri Lanka's 
Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) eligibility.  His 
experience as the DCM at the Sri Lankan Embassy in Washington 
gives him excellent insight into US policy objectives and 
initiatives.  His appreciation of the the "bigger picture" 
issues related to US-Sri Lankan relations has been especially 
beneficial during our recent bilateral MCA discussions.  For 
example, despite his personal reservations about certain MCA 
requirements, he nonetheless recognized the importance of 
securing a compact to our overall relations, contributing to 
the process by pushing a draft proposal through the 
labyrinthine Sri Lankan bureaucracy and advocating for an 
improved consultative process. 
 
2.  (SBU) A member of the Sri Lankan Foreign Service since 
1981, Kariyawasam has held diplomatic posts in Geneva, 
Riyadh, Washington and New Delhi.  Before his current posting 
as Director General for Economic Affairs, he served as the 
Ambassador and PermRep to the UN in Geneva.  He was elected 
as a Vice-Chairperson at the 59th Session of the UN 
Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, as well as Vice-Chair 
of the main committee at the World Conference against Racism 
in Durban in 2001.  In addition, he was elected Chair of the 
2004 sessions of the Chairpersons of the Human Rights Treaty 
Bodies and Inter-Committee Meetings and was President of the 
Council of the International Organization for Migration from 
2001-2002.  Kariyawasam also led the Sri Lankan delegation to 
the UN Conference on Disarmament from 2001 to 2003 and served 
as a delegate to the UN Ad Hoc Committee on International 
Terrorism during the same time. 
 
3.  (SBU)  Born on March 21, 1954 in the southern district of 
Galle, Kariyawasam is a member of the majority Sinhalese 
Buddhist community in Sri Lanka.  He played cricket for Royal 
College, one of Sri Lanka's leading secondary schools, before 
graduating from Peradeniya University in Sri Lanka with a 
B.S.  He is married with two children.  His wife Kanthi is a 
researcher at Georgetown University Medical School, and his 
daughter graduated in December from the University of 
Maryland with a degree in computer science. 
LUNSTEAD