Ministry of External Affairs and Defence

The Ministry of External Affairs and Defence was a ministry of the Government of Ceylon that conducted and managed all of Ceylon's relations with other countries and its military matters from 1947 to 1977.

History
The ministry was formally established in 1948 following the independence of Ceylon as the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence, coming under the direct control of the Prime Minister of Ceylon. In 1977, J.R Jayawardena's government adapted two separate ministries, forming the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Senior officials

 * Prime Minister and Minister of External Affairs and Defence
 * Parliamentary Secretary for External Affairs and Defence
 * Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence

Departments

 * Ceylon Army
 * Royal Ceylon Navy
 * Royal Ceylon Air Force
 * Police Department
 * Ceylon Overseas Service
 * Department of Information
 * Department of Immigration and Emigration

Parliamentary Secretaries
Incomplete
 * Hon. Major Montague "Monti" Jayawickreme
 * Hon. Felix R. Dias Bandaranaike
 * Tikiri Banda Subasinghe (1956-1959)

Permanent Secretaries
Incomplete
 * Sir Kanthiah Vaithianathan, KBE, CCS
 * Sir V. Coomaraswamy, CMG, CCS
 * G.V.P. Samarasinghe, CCS
 * N.Q. Dias, CCS
 * W.T Jayasinghe, CCS
 * Gunasena de Soyza (1953–1960)