Diplomatic Relations with the Kingdom of Belgium established.

Diplomatic Relations with the Federal Republic of Germany established on 9 December 1953.

The Colombo Powers conference hosted by Ceylon in Kandy from 28 April to 2 May 1954, is regarded as having provided the momentum to discuss Asian- African solidarity and lead to the 1955 Bandung Conference.

In April 1955, Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) with 29 countries from Africa and Asia, met in Bandung, Indonesia to discuss Afro-Asian solidarity and laid foundation for the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, obtained membership of the United Nations on 14 December 1955, along with nine other countries.

Sir Senerat Gunawardena, Sri Lanka’s first Permanent Representative to the UN, hoists the national flag at the UN Headquarters in New York.

Diplomatic Relations with the Kingdom of Thailand established in November 1955.

Diplomatic Relations with the State of Israel established on 1 June 1956.

Sir Senerat Gunewardene was appointed Ambassador to the United States in 1953 and served as the Government’s observer to the 1955 session of the United Nations General Assembly.

In 1956 he presented credentials as the first Representative to the United Nations.

Prime Minister, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike was the first Head of Government of Sri Lanka to address the United Nations General Assembly.

An excerpt from his speech at the 11th UN General Assembly:

“My country is a small one, a weak one and a poor one, but I venture to think that today, particularly in an organization such as this, the service that a country can render – that a member can render – is not to be measured alone by the size of that country, its population, its power or its strength. This is an organization which expresses itself most effectively by bringing to bear a certain moral force, the collective moral force and decency of human beings”.