[1] Until August 2009, he was the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Sri Lanka and was the former Secretary-General of the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process.
He was also a member of the Government delegation at the talks held in February and October 2006 Geneva, Switzerland with the LTTE.
At the UN he was responsible for introducing major managerial innovations and was awarded the UN 21 PIN for superior performance and efficiency.
He also initiated the UN Treaty Event, now held during the opening of the General Assembly in September, which has become a regular feature in the UN calendar.
Previously he was assigned to the Uruguay Round negotiating team of Australia with specific responsibility for the institutional mechanism and the dispute settlement unit.
In 1989 he was posted to the Australian Permanent Mission in Geneva with specific responsibility for environmental issues.
He returned to Sri Lanka on the invitation of President Mahinda Rajapakse and served as the Secretary General of the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP) from April 2006 until January 2007.