Ministry of External Affairs and Defence
The Ministry of External Affairs and Defence was a ministry of the Government of Ceylon that conducted and managed all of Ceylon's relations with other countries and its military matters from 1947 to 1977.

History
The ministry was formally established in 1948 following the independence of Ceylon as the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence, coming under the direct control of the Prime Minister of Ceylon. In 1977, J.R Jayawardena's government adapted two separate ministries, forming the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Senior officials
Prime Minister and Minister of External Affairs and Defence 
Parliamentary Secretary for External Affairs and Defence  
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence

Departments
 Ceylon Army
 Royal Ceylon Navy
 Royal Ceylon Air Force
 Police Department
 Ceylon Overseas Service
 Department of Information
 Department of Immigration and Emigration

Secretaries

Parliamentary Secretaries
Incomplete 
 Hon. Richard Gotabhaya Senanayake
 Hon. Major Montague "Monti" Jayawickreme
 Hon. Felix R. Dias Bandaranaike
 Tikiri Banda Subasinghe (1956-1959)

Permanent Secretaries
Incomplete 
 Sir Kanthiah Vaithianathan, KBE, CCS
 Sir V. Coomaraswamy, CMG, CCS 
 G.V.P. Samarasinghe, CCS
 N.Q. Dias, CCS
 W.T Jayasinghe,  CCS
 Gunasena de Soyza (1953–1960)

Additional Secretaries
Incomplete 
 S.A. Dissanayake - (former IGP)
 Tissa Wijeyeratne