Mr. Yoganaadan Kadirkamu Kandasamy joined the BIMSTEC Secretariat on 1 September 2025 as the third Director representing Sri Lanka. As a Grade One Officer of the Sri Lanka Foreign Service, he brings over two decades of experience in diplomacy, economic affairs, and development administration, with diplomatic assignments in Sri Lanka Missions in Amman, Canberra, London and Beijing.
Prior to his diplomatic career, Mr. Yoganaadan was an Assistant Director in the Sri Lanka Planning Service, where he worked with the Ministry of Policy Development and Plan Implementation. He also contributed to regional development initiatives when serving as Development Coordinator at the District Secretariat in Vavuniya, Northern Province.
He most recently served as Director General of the Middle East Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism. He previously led the Economic Affairs (Multilateral) Division, and has served in the East Asia and Pacific, South Asia and SAARC, Overseas Administration, Public Diplomacy and Consular Divisions of the Ministry.
Mr. Yoganaadan holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration (University of Jaffna), a Master of Letters in Peace and Conflict Studies (University of Sydney) and a Master’s degree in Development Studies (University of Colombo).
Over the course of his career, he has represented Sri Lanka at international summits, including SAARC 2004, CHOGM 2011 (Perth), CHOGM 2013 (Colombo) and the CICA Summit 2018 (Dushanbe). In addition, he has served in organising committees for several global and regional conferences in Sri Lanka.
To further enhance his professional expertise, Mr. Yoganaadan has completed advanced training in Conflict Resolution (United Nations University) and Economic Diplomacy (Harvard University).
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