[2] Both Sri Lanka and Cuba were members of the Non-aligned movement, which rejected a bipolar domination of world affairs.

[4] Though many members of the Non-Alignment Movement were embroiled in intra-member conflicts,[5] Cuban-Sri Lankan relations were quite cordial.

Prime Minister Junius Richard Jayawardene visited Cuba in 1979 to promote the aims of the movement, while the respective governments signed a number of agreements in the 1970s to further cement ideological ties.

[2] Cuba and Sri Lanka have cooperated in a number of sectors with the goal of mutual development and economic progress.

However some cultural influences still hold, such as the Cuban contributions to Baila, a form of dance music popular on the island of Sri Lanka originated centuries ago among the 'kaffir' or Afro-Sinhalese communities (mixed communities of Portuguese, African and native Sinhalese people).