Norway to Shut Down SL Mission, Shift Operations to New Delhi

Norwegian government has announced that it will shut down its embassy in Sri Lanka on July 31, and from August 1, its New Delhi-based diplomatic mission would be responsible for the country’s bilateral relationship with Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

"This Facebook page will be closed. We invite you to follow the page of the Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi for more updates on our ongoing cooperation with India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives!," the Norwegian Embassy in Colombo said in a Facebook post.

“Norwegian Embassy in New Delhi will now be the mission responsible for Norway in India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives headed by the Norwegian Ambassador to India,” it added.

The decision came months after the announcement by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that five of its overseas missions would be closed down, including the Embassy of Norway in Colombo.

Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Anniken Huitfeldt, in September 2022, announced that the country would make several changes to its missions abroad. Accordingly, Embassies in Bratislava (Slovakia), Colombo (Sri Lanka) and Pristina (Kosovo), the embassy office in Antananarivo (Madagascar) and the Consulate General in Houston (USA) would be closed down.

Norway and Sri Lanka established diplomatic relations in 1952 and the embassy in Colombo was opened in 1996.