The Minister of Defence is an appointment in the

Cabinet of Sri Lanka In Sri Lanka, the Cabinet of Ministers is the council of senior ministers responsible and answerable to the Parliament of Sri Lanka. The President is a member of the cabinet and its head. The Dissanayake cabinet is the incumbent central gov ...

who is responsible for the implementation of the

Government of Sri Lanka The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) (; ) is a Semi-presidential republic determined by the Constitution of Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the island from both its commercial capital of Colombo and the administrative capital o ...

s defence policy and the headquarters of the

Sri Lankan Armed Forces The Sri Lanka Armed Forces is the overall unified military of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka encompassing the Sri Lanka Army, the Sri Lanka Navy, and the Sri Lanka Air Force; they are governed by the Ministry of Defence (Sri Lank ...

. The post was first created in 1947 as Minister of External Affairs and Defence, in 1978 the

Ministry of External Affairs and Defence The Ministry of External Affairs and Defence was a cabinet ministry of the Government of Ceylon that conducted and managed all of Ceylon's relations with other countries and its military matters from 1947 to 1977. History The ministry was for ...

separated into two ministries, the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

and the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

. Prior to the separation of the post the Minister of External Affairs and Defence was held by the

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

since 1947, with a '' Parliamentary Secretary for Defence and External Affairs'' who was an elected parliamentarian and was the ''de facto''

foreign minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

List of Defence Ministers

References

External links

Government of Sri Lanka

Ministry of Defence Sri Lanka
{{Ministries of Sri Lanka Defence

List of Defence Ministers

See also

References

External links