In a message responding to Diaz-Canel’s good wishes for his new term as head of State, Dissanayake thanked his Cuban peer for his support in building a solid relationship between the two countries.
In 2024, Sri Lanka and Cuba are marking 65 years of diplomatic relations, both intending to further strengthen bilateral ties in several fields.
These ties started to grow significantly in July 1959, just six months after the advent of the Cuban Revolution, when guerrilla Commander Ernesto Che Guevara visited former Ceylon, as an envoy of Fidel Castro to the signatory countries of the Bandung Pact, Indonesia, in 1955, which derived from a meeting of progressive States from Asia and Africa, attended by Latin American representatives as guests.
Havana opened its Embassy in Colombo in 1960, while the Sri Lankan government did so in Cuba in 1987.
Both nations have maintained excellent diplomatic relations over six decades.
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