Ambassador

Sashikala Premawardhane 
Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Indonesia and ASEAN  
Non-Resident Ambassador-designate of Sri Lanka to Timor-Leste 

Sashikala Premawardhane is a career diplomat with over 28 years of experience in the Sri Lanka Foreign Service. She presented credentials to the President of Indonesia on 8th June 2026 and to the Secretary General of ASEAN on 23rd June, 2026. Prior to being appointed as the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Indonesia and ASEAN she served as the Additional Secretary/Bilateral Political Affairs –East of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism of Sri Lanka in 2025 and as the Director General of the Southeast & Central Asia Division from 2023 to 2025.  

She has also served as Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Singapore from June 2019 to September 2023. 

Ambassador Premawardhane has held several key appointments in Sri Lanka’s Foreign Ministry including as Director General, Policy Planning and Research, Director General, Ocean Affairs, Environment and Climate Change, Director/United Nations, Multilateral Affairs, Human Rights and Conferences, Director/Technical Cooperation, and Deputy Director/Economic Affairs. She was on secondment at the Ministry of Defence as Senior Assistant Secretary (Foreign Affairs) from 2012-2017.  

Overseas, Ambassador Premawardhane has served at the Sri Lanka High Commission in Canberra including as Acting High Commissioner from December 2010 to July 2011 and at the Sri Lanka Embassy in Tokyo as First Secretary from 2001-2004. She has represented Sri Lanka at numerous international conferences, seminars and symposia and been a member of the Sri Lanka delegation on several bilateral, regional and multilateral engagements.  

In 2017 she served as a Member of the 13th Session of the Environment Council of the Central Environmental Authority, appointed by the former President and Minister of Mahaweli Development and Environment Maithripala Sirisena. She was also appointed by former President Ranil Wickremesinghe, to serve as a member of the Committee established to undertake the Defence Review 2030 of Sri Lanka and prior to her departure to Indonesia briefly served on the Sri Lanka National Commission for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).  

Ambassador Premawardhane holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Pune, India and a Master’s degree in Conflict and Peace Studies from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. She was awarded the Career Achievement-Public Sector Award 2019 at the “Top 50 Professional & Career Women Awards – Ninth Edition” Sri Lanka & Maldives, by Women in Management (WIM) in partnership with IFC, a member of the World Bank Group and the Government of Australia. In 2021 she was recognized as a distinguished alumni of the University of Colombo. She is a Special Grade officer of the Sri Lanka Foreign Service.