Diplomat par excellence

Deshamanya Dr. Vernon L B Mendis

One of the country’s erudite diplomats - Deshamanya Dr. Vernon L.B. Mendis passed away recently on the 23rd of June. He was 85 yrs at the time of his death.
Dr Mendis who hailed from the first batch of the Ceylon Overseas Service created in 1949 was the country’s senior most professional diplomat at the time he passed away. In his long and distinguished career Dr. Mendis had served in a number of Sri Lanka’s diplomatic missions including Washington, Moscow, Tokyo and Paris. Later he was Chief of Protocol and also served as Counsellor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1960 to 1963. He also served as Deputy High Commissioner in New Delhi (1966-69) before being appointed as Director General of the Ministry of Defence and External Affairs with the substantive rank of additional Secretary and Head of External Affairs.
With the decision of Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike to appoint only career officers as Heads of Missions Dr. Mendis successively held the positions of High Commissioner in UK, Canada and Ambassador in France. He served as the Regional Director for UNESCO to Arab States with headquarters in Cairo and also as a Fellow of the United States Institute of Peace. He also served as Chairman of the Telecommunication Board of Sri Lanka from 1985 to 1990.
His role as Secretary General of the Non-aligned Mini-Summit (December 1962) on the Sino-Indian border conflict and as Secretary General of the 5th Non-aligned summit held in Colombo in September 1976 are two important events in his distinguished career. He held these positions majestically executing the duties to perfection with dignity and aplomb. Many were the glowing tributes and accolades showered on him by foreign dignitaries and local leaders who graced this memorable and historic event unprecedented in Sri Lanka.
Dr. Mendis was endowed with an impeccable gift of the gab, a meticulous diction which could conquer the attention of any audience. He possessed a tall and handsome figure and was always a picture of sartorial elegance. He could walk into any international gathering with dignity and poise to mingle with royalty, nobles and the elite. He had the dexterity to lecture for hours extemporaneously. His abundance of skills enabled him to bring credit and honour to the country as the distinguished representative of our Government.
Dr. Mendis was the recipient of a Peace Fellowship Award from the prestigious U.S.Institute of Peace Studies based in Washington. He was also the recipient of local national honours such as “Vishwa Prasadini” (1966) and ‘Deshamanya” (1998) in recognition of his distinguished service to the country.
On his retirement, Dr Mendis who was the doyen of Sri Lanka’s diplomatic service did not opt to live in luxury and comfort either in USA with his only son or in any other part of the world and preferred to live in the land of his birth making himself available for any national cause. Before long he was invited by the Director of BCIS Mr Ray Forbes to be a lecturer in this Institute. It was during this time that the vision of founding the BIDTI germinated in the mind of Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike. This valuable idea later became the brain child of Dr Mendis. When the Institute was eventually set up in 1995 Dr Mendis was the undisputed choice to be its founding Director General.
While being a faithful and devoted Christian he always respected other religious faiths.
In his public speeches he used to proudly state as a true patriot that Sri Lankan diplomacy really originated with the bilateral relations that existed between our King Devanampiya Tissa and Indian Emperor Ashoka which also led to the advent of Buddhism to Sri Lanka. I urge that the BIDTI which owes its very existence to this far seeing visionary consider perpetuating his memory appropriately.

May Dr Mendis’s soul
rest in peace
G.A. Harischandra