[[File:Jayewardene presents elephant to Reagan.jpg|thumb|President [[J. R. Jayewardene]] gifting a baby elephant to US President [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1984]]
श्रीलंका [[असंलग्न अभियान|असंलग्न आन्दोलन]]को संस्थापक सदस्य हो। स्वतन्त्र भएदेखि श्रीलंकाले भारत सँग राम्रो सम्बन्ध कायम गरेको छ।<ref name="relatns">{{Cite news |title=Foreign Relations |url=http://countrystudies.us/sri-lanka/74.htm |work=[[Library of Congress Country Studies]] | access-date=15 July 2014}}</ref> श्रीलंका १९५५ मा [[संयुक्त राष्ट्र|संयुक्त राष्ट्र संघ]]को सदस्य बन्यो। अहिले यो देश राष्ट्रमण्डल, [[सार्क]] , [[विश्व बैंक]], [[अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय मुद्रा कोष|अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय मुद्र कोष]], [[एसियाली विकास बैंक|एसियाली बिकास बैंक]] र [[कोलोम्बो प्लान]] को पनि सदस्य रहेको छ।
The United National Party has traditionally favoured links with the West, while the Sri Lanka Freedom Party has favoured links with the East.<ref name="relatns" /> Sri Lankan Finance Minister J. R. Jayewardene, together with then Australian Foreign Minister Sir Percy Spencer, proposed the Colombo Plan at the Commonwealth Foreign Minister's Conference held in Colombo in 1950.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Colombo Plan at 57 |url=http://www.colombo-plan.org/viewPressContent.php?id=93&page=4 |work=[[Colombo Plan]] | author=Jayasekera, Upali S. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113150629/http://www.colombo-plan.org/viewPressContent.php?id=93&page=4 |archive-date=13 January 2012}}</ref> At the [[Treaty of San Francisco|San Francisco Peace Conference]] in 1951, while many countries were reluctant, Sri Lanka argued for a free [[Japan]] and refused to accept payment of reparations for [[World War II]] damage because it believed it would harm Japan's economy.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Sri Lanka excels at the San Francisco Peace Conference |url=http://pdfs.island.lk/2009/09/07/p12.pdf |work=The Island |date=7 September 2009}}</ref> Sri Lanka-China relations started as soon as the People's Republic of China was formed in 1949. The two countries signed an important Rice-Rubber Pact in 1952.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Lanka-China bilateral ties at its zenith |url=http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2010/10/03/fea02.asp |work=The Sunday Observer |date=3 October 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304082628/http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2010/10/03/fea02.asp |archive-date=4 March 2016 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Sri Lanka played a vital role at the [[Asian–African Conference]] in 1955, which was an important step in the crystallisation of the NAM.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Bandung Conference of 1955 and the resurgence of Asia and Africa |url=http://archives.dailynews.lk/2005/04/21/fea01.htm |work=The Daily News |date=21 April 2005}}</ref>
The Bandaranaike government of 1956 significantly changed the pro-western policies set by the previous UNP government. It recognised Cuba under [[Fidel Castro]] in 1959. Shortly afterward, Cuba's revolutionary [[Che Guevara]] paid a visit to Sri Lanka.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Lanka-Cuba relations should be strengthened |url=http://archives.dailynews.lk/2004/01/14/new24.html |work=The Daily News |date=14 January 2004}}</ref> The [[Sirima–Shastri Pact|Sirima-Shastri Pact]] of 1964<ref>{{Cite news |title=29 October 1964 |url=http://pact.lk/29-october-1964/ |work=Pact.lk |access-date=15 July 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150128112857/http://pact.lk/29-october-1964/ |archive-date=28 January 2015 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> and [[Sirima–Gandhi Pact|Sirima-Gandhi Pact]] of 1974<ref>{{Cite news |title=Statelessness abolished? |url=http://www.cope.nu/show.asp?NewsID=170&DocType=News |work=cope.nu |access-date=15 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813065808/http://www.cope.nu/show.asp?NewsID=170&DocType=News |archive-date=13 August 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> were signed between Sri Lankan and Indian leaders in an attempt to solve the [[Ceylon Citizenship Act|long-standing dispute]] over the status of [[Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka|plantation workers of Indian origin]]. In 1974, [[Katchatheevu|Kachchatheevu]], a small island in [[Palk Strait]], was formally ceded to Sri Lanka.<ref>{{Cite news |title=India-Sri Lanka: 1921 Conference On Fisheries And Ceding Of Kachchatheevu – Analysis |url=http://www.albanytribune.com/22082011-india-sri-lanka-1921-conference-on-fisheries-and-ceding-of-kachchatheevu-%E2%80%93-analysis/ |work=Albany Tribune |date=22 August 2011 |author=Suryanarayan, V. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402073824/http://www.albanytribune.com/22082011-india-sri-lanka-1921-conference-on-fisheries-and-ceding-of-kachchatheevu-%E2%80%93-analysis/ |archive-date=2 April 2012}}</ref> By this time, Sri Lanka was strongly involved in the NAM, and the [[5th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement|fifth NAM summit]] was held in Colombo in 1976.<ref>{{Cite news |title=NAM Golden Jubilee this year |url=http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2011/07/10/fea02.asp |work=The Sunday Observer |date=10 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304095243/http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2011/07/10/fea02.asp |archive-date=4 March 2016 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> The relationship between Sri Lanka and India became tense under the government of [[Junius Richard Jayewardene|J. R. Jayawardene]].<ref name="atimes" /><ref name="indnrel">{{Cite journal |doi=10.1080/09700160008455216 |title=Indo‐Sri Lankan security perceptions: Divergences and convergences |journal=Strategic Analysis |volume=24 |issue=2 |page=343 |year=2000 |last1=Murthy |first1=P. |s2cid=154512767}}</ref> As a result, [[Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War|India intervened in the Sri Lankan Civil War]] and subsequently deployed an [[Indian Peace Keeping Force]] in 1987.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9B0DE0D8173FF936A35755C0A961948260&n=Top%2fNews%2fWorld%2fCountries%20and%20Territories%2fIndia |title=India airlifts aid to Tamil rebels |newspaper=The New York Times |date=5 June 1987 |author=Weisman, Steven R.}}</ref> In the present, Sri Lanka enjoys extensive relations with China,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL31707.pdf |page=6 |title=Sri Lanka: Background and U.S. Relations |publisher=[[Federation of American Scientists]] | access-date=15 July 2014}}</ref> Russia,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2010/02/09/russia-and-sri-lanka-strengthen-bilateral-relations |title=Russia and Sri Lanka to strengthen bilateral relations |newspaper=[[Asian Tribune]] | access-date=15 July 2014}}</ref> and Pakistan.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.asiantribune.com/news/2011/02/04/world-leaders-send-warm-greeting-sri-lanka-independence-day |title=World leaders send warm greeting to Sri Lanka on Independence Day |newspaper=[[Asian Tribune]] | access-date=15 July 2014}}</ref>
