Country Profile: Sri Lanka

BASIC FACTS

Sri Lanka is a Member Country of the NAM Movement since 1961

The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is an island nation located in the Indian Ocean. Prior to becoming arepublic, the country holds a dominion status within a British commonwealth between 1948-1972 known as “Ceylon”. In 2009, civil war between the Sri Lankan Armed Forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam ended with the Sri Lankan military defeated the Tamil Tigers. Sri Lanka traditionally has had close security ties to India. However, in recent years, Sri Lanka has increased military ties with China

Capital: Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte

Currently, there are no nuclear research reactors or power plants in Sri Lanka. However, the government has expressed strong interest and announced the approval of the electricity sector reform, which includes nuclear power, by the minister of power and energy. In 2022, Sri Lanka received a review on the country’s infrastructure development for a nuclear power programby the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team of experts.

TREATIES AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

  • IAEA Membership (1957)

  • Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production and Stockpiling of Bacteriological (Biological) and Toxin Weapons and on Their Destruction (BTWC) (1975) 

  • Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (CPPNM) (1987) 

  • Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (CWC) (1997) 

  • Protocol for the Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare (Geneva Protocol) (1928)  

  • International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT) (2007) 

  • Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) (1970)  

  • Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapon Tests in the Atmosphere, in Outer Space and under Water (Partial Test Ban Treaty) (1963)  

  • Treaty on the Prohibition of the Emplacement of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction on the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor and in the Subsoil Thereof (Sea-Bed Treaty) (1972)  

  • Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) (2014) 

  • The Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) (2010)  

  • Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (CCW) (1983) 

  • Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (Mine Ban Convention) (1999)  

  • Treaty on Open Skies (2002) 

  • Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies (Outer Space Treaty ) (1967) 

  • Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) (signed -1996 

 

AGREEMENTS (In force)

  • Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident (1991) 

  • Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency (1991) 

  • Convention on Nuclear Safety (1999) 

  • Revised Supplementary Agreements Concerning the Provision of Technical Assistance by the IAEA (RSA) (1979) 

  • Regional Co-operative Agreement for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology, 2017 (2018)  

  • Application of safeguards in connection with the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (1984) 


REGIONAL GROUPS

  • Member of the Asia-Pacific Group
  • Founding member of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)
  • Member of the G-77

 

LINKS

Sri Lanka Ministry of Foreign Relations

Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the United Nations

UN State Summary

Ratification of Treaties & Membership in International Organizations Related to Disarmament

Country List (Office of Legal Affairs): Sri Lanka (iaea.org)