H.E. Mahishini Colonne

High Commissioner

High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India, Mahishini Colonne, presented her credentials to the President of India, Droupadi Murmu, at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan in New Delhi on Tuesday 29 July 2025.

Ms. Mahishini Colonne assumed office as High Commissioner of Sri Lanka to India on 09 June 2025.

A career Foreign Service Officer, she joined the Sri Lanka Foreign Service in July 1998. Prior to her current assignment, served as the Additional Secretary for Multilateral Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism.

During her career of over twenty-five years as a Sri Lankan diplomat, she has served at Sri Lanka’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York (2000 - 2003; 2007 - 2008), and as Deputy High Commissioner in India (2011 - 2014). She also served as Director at the Secretariat of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) in Dhaka (July 2021 - June 2024), on secondment from the Foreign Service.

At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, she has served as the Additional Secretary for Multilateral Affairs (2025), Senior Director General for Multilateral Affairs, Ocean Affairs, Environment and Climate Change (2024-2025), Director General of the United Nations and Human Rights Division (April 2014 - March 2019), Director General of the US & Canada /North America Division (February 2016 - March 2019), Director General of the Economic Affairs (Bilateral & Economic Diplomacy) Division (December 2019 - June 2021), and as Spokesperson of the Ministry (May 2015 - December 2018).

Earlier in her career, she has served as Assistant Director (South Asia & SAARC), Director (SAARC), Deputy Director (UN & Multilateral Affairs) and Director (UN & Multilateral Affairs).

Additionally, she has served as Senior Director (International Affairs) at the Ministry of Finance (April - November 2019) and as a Member on the Board of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Service (2018).

She has represented Sri Lanka on delegations to numerous sessions of the UN General Assembly, UN Human Rights Council, meetings of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), meetings of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Group of 77, and at bilateral level, where she has participated in the negotiation and advancement of bilateral and multilateral initiatives.

Her academic credentials include a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Pune, India; MSc (International Relations) from the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore; and Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of London.