By. Ashoka Peiris
Ambassador-designate of Sri Lanka to the Russian Federation Shobini Gunasekera assumes duties. According to the report we received; Shobini Gunasekara assumed her duties as Sri Lankan Ambassador in Moscow from February 19, 2025. This important appointment has coincided with the 68th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and the Russian Federation.
Ambassador Gunasekera is a career diplomat with over 27 years of experience in diplomacy that includes various assignments at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism of Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka’s Missions abroad.
Addressing the staff, Ambassador Gunasekera emphasized the time-tested enduring relations between Sri Lanka and the Russian Federation and underlined the strengths and potential to further consolidate the long – standing and friendly bilateral partnership in multiple spheres covering political, economic, education, culture, science and people to people ties. During this event she also emphasized the need to think fresh and work proactively to support the three main pillars of the government, namely: eradication of poverty, digital economy and the “Clean Sri Lanka” initiative.
Ambassador S.Gunasekera joined the Sri Lanka Foreign service in 1998. Shobini has served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Assistant Director Economic Affairs from July 1998 to February 2001. After Shobini worked as deputy Director, Legal Affairs from March 2004 to February 2008. S. Gunasekara was the Acting Director General East Asia and the Pacific from March 2011 to June 2014.
Shobini has showed her incredible skills when she worked as a Director General Economic Affairs from August 2017 to January 2018. Furthermore, Gunasekara addedmore roles to her profile, Director General of the European Union, Commonwealth and Multilateral Treaties – from January 2018 to January 2019.
Gunasekara has worked as the Director General of both UN and the Legal Divisions simultaneously from January 2019 to August 2019, and finally as the Director General of Europe and North America from January 2023 to February 2025 prior to the assumption of the current post.
In her diplomatic career, she has served as the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Republic of Philippines from September 2019 to December 2022. Ambassador’s diplomatic assignments abroad also included working in the Embassy of Sri Lanka in France as the Minister (Deputy Chief of Mission) from June 2014 to August 2017, in the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Beijing as the Minister Counsellor from April 2007 to March 2011, in the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Brussels as the First Secretary from February 2001 to April 2004.
Ambassador Gunasekera holds a master’s degree in public administration and management and a bachelor’s degree in commerce from the University of Colombo. She was admitted to the Bar as an Attorney-at-Law in 1994. She is an alumnus of Musaeus College, Colombo.