By P M Amza –

The passing of Mrs. Manel Abeysekera marks the departure of one of the pioneering figures of Sri Lankan diplomacy. As the first woman career diplomat in the Sri Lanka Foreign Service, a former Chief of Protocol, author of the Foreign Ministry’s Manual of Protocol Procedure, and a mentor to generations of diplomats, her contribution deserves to be remembered not merely as an impressive personal career but as part of the institutional history of Sri Lanka’s diplomatic service.

Her career spanned an important period in Sri Lanka’s post-independence diplomacy, when a relatively young nation was establishing its identity internationally and developing the institutions, practices and traditions through which it would conduct relations with the outside world.

Mrs. Abeysekera was both a participant in and a contributor to that process.

A Pioneer in the Foreign Service

Entering diplomacy at a time when the profession was overwhelmingly dominated by men, Mrs. Abeysekera’s distinction as the first woman career diplomat in the Sri Lanka Foreign Service was itself significant.

The importance of that achievement has to be understood in the context of the period. Women were still relatively uncommon in senior diplomatic positions internationally, and a woman representing her country abroad inevitably encountered assumptions and conventions that her male colleagues did not.

Her memoir, “Madame-Sir”: Career and Dilemmas of the First Woman Diplomat in the Sri Lanka Foreign Service, captures something of that pioneering experience. Its memorable title itself reflects the unfamiliarity that sometimes greeted a woman occupying a diplomatic position traditionally associated with men.

But Mrs. Abeysekera’s legacy should not be confined to the fact that she was the first woman to enter the career Foreign Service. What gave that distinction lasting meaning was the professional record that followed.

The 1976 Non-Aligned Summit

Perhaps nowhere was that professionalism tested more dramatically than during her tenure as Chief of Protocol from 1974 to 1980.

In August 1976, Colombo hosted the Fifth Summit Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement. It brought to Sri Lanka an extraordinary concentration of Heads of State and Government and senior delegations from countries across the developing world.

It remains the largest international summit Sri Lanka has hosted since independence.

The political significance of the Summit is well documented. Sri Lanka, under Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike, occupied a prominent position within the Non-Aligned Movement at a time when the movement itself represented an important voice in international affairs.

Less visible is the enormous administrative and diplomatic machinery required to host an event of such magnitude.

Protocol at this level is not simply about ceremonial courtesies.

Every arrival and departure, order of precedence, motorcade, accommodation arrangement, official function, seating plan, bilateral engagement and ceremonial event has to be coordinated. Security requirements must coexist with diplomatic courtesies. Cultural and political sensitivities must be anticipated. Different delegations have different expectations, while every state represented expects to be treated with appropriate dignity.

A mistake that may appear insignificant administratively can assume diplomatic significance.

As Chief of Protocol, Mrs. Abeysekera stood at the centre of this demanding exercise. The successful conduct of that historic Summit must therefore be counted among the significant achievements of her career.

Turning Experience into Institutional Knowledge

Yet perhaps her most enduring contribution to Sri Lankan protocol came after the Summit.

Diplomatic institutions depend heavily upon institutional memory. Officers acquire experience, but unless that experience is documented and transmitted, much of it disappears when individuals retire or move to other assignments.

Mrs. Abeysekera understood this.

In 1980 she authored the Foreign Ministry’s Manual of Protocol Procedure, translating accumulated experience and established practice into a structured reference for those entrusted with protocol responsibilities.

This was an important contribution because protocol combines international conventions with national practice. There are established principles governing diplomatic relations, precedence, privileges and ceremonial practice, but their implementation inevitably develops through a country’s own traditions and experience.

The Manual helped provide continuity.

More than two decades later, another important chapter was added to that legacy.

In 2004, Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar invited Mrs. Abeysekera to update the Manual to take account of developments in diplomatic protocol since its original publication. She undertook the task and subsequently presented the revised Manual to the Minister.

There was a certain symbolism in that moment.

The officer who had managed protocol during Sri Lanka’s greatest international summit was, decades later, ensuring that the knowledge accumulated by her generation would remain relevant to those who followed.

I happened to be serving in the Protocol Division during this period and therefore had the opportunity to observe this contribution at close quarters.

Protocol as an Instrument of Diplomacy

My own association with Mrs. Abeysekera went beyond that particular occasion. I was fortunate to benefit from her guidance, particularly when I subsequently assumed responsibilities in Protocol.

I regarded her as my guru in Protocol.

What one learnt from her went beyond written rules.

A protocol manual can explain precedence. It can prescribe procedures for receiving visiting dignitaries, presenting credentials or organising state ceremonies. But no manual can anticipate every situation that confronts a Chief of Protocol.

That requires judgement.

Mrs. Abeysekera possessed an extraordinary reservoir of such institutional experience. She understood personalities, precedent and the importance of anticipating problems before they became diplomatic irritants.

There is sometimes a tendency to regard protocol as an ornamental aspect of diplomacy—a world of flags, red carpets, seating arrangements and ceremonial courtesies.

That misunderstands its purpose.

Protocol is, in fact, one of the quiet instruments of international relations.

It gives practical expression to sovereign equality. It establishes precedence without unnecessary argument. It ensures reciprocity. It allows visiting leaders to be received with dignity while safeguarding the dignity of the host country. Above all, effective protocol creates an orderly environment within which substantive diplomacy can take place.

The paradox is that the better protocol is performed, the less visible it becomes.

When everything proceeds smoothly, few ask who made it happen.

Mrs. Abeysekera belonged to a generation of practitioners who understood this instinctively.

A Legacy Beyond Office

There is another dimension to her contribution that deserves recognition.

Public servants accumulate extraordinary experiences, but relatively few take the trouble to document them. Mrs. Abeysekera did so through her memoir, leaving future generations not only an account of diplomatic life but also a record of the challenges faced by a pioneering Sri Lankan woman in international diplomacy.

Her professional legacy therefore survives in two complementary forms.

The Manual of Protocol Procedure represents the institutional side of diplomacy—the rules, practices and accumulated experience necessary for the conduct of official relations.

Madame-Sir represents its human side—the personalities, dilemmas, challenges and experiences behind diplomatic service.

Together, they tell us something important about her approach to public service: experience was something to be shared rather than retained.

That may ultimately be the most valuable legacy any senior public servant can leave.

Passing the Baton

Foreign ministries are institutions in which knowledge is passed quietly from one generation to another. Much of what a young diplomat learns does not come from textbooks. It comes from watching senior colleagues, listening to their experiences and seeking their advice when confronted with situations for which no rulebook provides an easy answer.

Mrs. Manel Abeysekera was part of that chain of institutional memory.

Her contribution can be traced from the great diplomatic gathering Colombo hosted in 1976, through the codification of Sri Lanka’s protocol practices in 1980, to the updating of that knowledge for a new generation in 2004.

But her influence extended beyond documents and official assignments. It survived through the officers whom she advised and the professional standards she encouraged them to uphold.

For those of us fortunate enough to have benefited from her guidance, that is how she will also be remembered.

Sri Lanka has lost a pioneering woman diplomat. The Foreign Service has lost an important custodian of its institutional traditions. But the professional legacy Mrs. Abeysekera leaves behind remains part of the history and practice of Sri Lankan diplomacy.

Positions in diplomacy are temporary. Institutional contributions endure.

Mrs. Manel Abeysekera made such a contribution.

And for that, Sri Lankan diplomacy owes her a lasting debt of gratitude.

*The author is a retired Ambassador and former Chief of Protocol of Sri Lanka, having served in that position from 2005–2006 and 2015–2016.