Minister of External Affairs Prof. G.L. Peiris will make an official visit to the United Kingdom today (October 18) at the invitation of Rt. Hon. William Hague, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs marking the first official Ministerial-level visit to the UK since the formation of the new Government in the UK.

Minister Peiris will hold discussions with Rt. Hon. William Hague, Rt. Hon. Dr. Liam Fox, Secretary of State for Defence, and other Members of the British Parliament, the Ministry of External Affairs said.

During the visit, Minister Peiris has been invited by the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) in London, to deliver the keynote address at the “UK-SL Strategic Policy Dialogue”.

The London-based think-tank on strategic and foreign policy issues has organized the Dialogue in collaboration with the Ministry of External Affairs in Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka High Commission in London.

Minister Peiris will also meet with the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Mr. Kamalesh Sharma.

Sri Lanka is the current Chair of the Board of Governor's of the Commonwealth and will host the 2013 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), according to the decision taken by the CHOGM held in Trinidad and Tobago in 2009.