Newly appointed first lady Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Brazil, C.A. Chaminda I. Colonne, presents Letters of Credence to His Excellency the President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil

Press Release

Newly appointed first lady Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Brazil, C.A. Chaminda I. Colonne, presented her Letters of Credence to His Excellency the President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of the Federative Republic of Brazil at the Itamaraty Palace, headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil in Brasília on 20th October 2025. Ambassador Chaminda Colonne was accompanied by her spouse Stephen Senanayake. Along with Ambassador Chaminda Colonne there were twenty-seven (27) newly appointed Ambassadors to Brazil presented their Letters of Credence.

Before the credential ceremony, Ambassador Chaminda Colonne signed the “Book of Ambassadors” with a short message at Rui Babosa Room in the Itamaraty Palace.

Arrival of His Excellency the President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, with Minister of Foreign Affairs Mauro Vieira of Brazil and Secretary General Maria Laura da Rocha of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Brazil at the Treaty Room of the Itamaraty Palace marked the beginning of the ceremony, followed by President’s speech. His Excellency the President Lula da Silva highlighted that bringing Brazil back onto the international stage was one of the first and most urgent missions at the beginning of his third term. He has traveled to 37 countries across five continents during this term. This year, he has returned to Asia for the third time. In the first semester, he has visited Japan, Vietnam, and China. This week, He will be visiting Southeast Asia, making state visits to Indonesia and Malaysia and would take part in the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur. He emphasized that Asia as a whole has been consolidating itself as a dynamic hub of the global economy and with several countries in Asian region, Brazil’s trade volume already surpasses that which Brazil maintains with many of Brazil´s traditional partners.

After heartiest welcome by His Excellency the President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Ambassador Chaminda Colonne presented her Letter of Credence to His Excellency the President Lula da Silva and extended warm best wishes and felicitations from His Excellency the President Anura Kumara Dissanayake of Sri Lanka.

Following the credential ceremony, Ambassador Chaminda Colonne and Spouse Stephen Senanayake also joined a luncheon at the Brasilia Room in the Itamaraty Palace hosted by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mauro Vieira of Brazil in honour of the newly accredited Ambassadors.

Ambassador Chaminda Colonne is concurrently accredited to Argentine Republic, Republic of Chile, Plurinational State of Bolivia, Co-operative Republic of Guyana, Republic of Peru, Republic of Colombia, Oriental Republic of Uruguay, Republic of Paraguay and Republic of Suriname.

Ambassador Chaminda Colonne is a Senior Career Diplomat of the Sri Lanka Foreign Service (Grade-1), joined the service in 1998. Prior to being appointed as first Lady Sri Lanka Ambassador to Brazil, she served as Director General of the Latin America and Caribbean of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism. Her distinguish Diplomatic Service includes Sri Lanka Ambassador to the Kingdom of Thailand with concurrent accreditation to Lao Democratic People’s Republic and the Kingdom of Cambodia and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (UNESCAP), and Minister/ Deputy Chief of Mission to Berlin, Germany with concurrent accreditation to Switzerland, Counsellor to New Delhi, India and First / Second Secretary to Moscow, Russia.

Ambassador Chaminda Colonne is an alumna of the University of Colombo and served as an academic staff member of the University of Colombo, prior to joining the Sri Lanka Foreign Service. She is also past pupil of Visakha Vidyalaya of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Embassy of Sri Lanka
Brazil
22 October 2025