Having been escorted by a motorcade followed by a Guard of Honour  and the recital of the national anthems of the two countries, Dr. Karunadasa was extended a warm welcome by His Highness the Deputy Emir, who wished the Ambassador every success in his tenure in Qatar.  Ambassador Dr. Karunadasa reciprocated  and recalled that relations between the two countries dated back to 1976 when the then Emir, His Highness Halifa Bin Hamad Al Thani, attended the Fifth Non-Aligned Summit in Colombo, in 1976, that fostered the opening up of diplomatic missions in both countries and paved the way for state visits by leaders of both countries.  The Ambassador also recalled the land mark visits of  the Emir His Highness Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani  and Dr. Khalid Bin Mohammed Al Attiyah, the Foreign Minister in  January 2012 and recent visit of the Emir His Highness Tammin Bin Hamad Al Thani in March 2015  following the formation of the present government under President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe, as a testament to the strong ties between the two countries. Ambassador Karunadasa conveyed the greetings and best wishes of the Sri Lanka government and underscored his commitment to further strengthening and promote bilateral relations between the two countries.

Noting the large expatriate  workforce residing in Qatar, the Sri Lankan envoy highlighted the need to  further consolidate trade, commerce, investment,  tourism  and cultural  ties  between the two  countries in  the years ahead. In view of the many bilateral  Agreements  and Memorandum  of Understating  signed between the two countries, Ambassador Dr. Karunadasa expressed the hope that they would provide the framework for further cooperation and new areas such as in Higher  education, tertiary and IT education could be explored , with exchange  programs of  University teachers, professionals and journalists. Ambassador  Karunadasa also recalled cooperation between the two countries in the multilateral fora at the United Nations. In response, the Deputy Emir of the State of Qatar, His Highness Sheik Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani  spoke of their intention to further  strengthen and enhance bilateral relations in a number of economic areas and noted that exchange and visits of academics and teachers at upper tertiary and university level would be a positive area to support and also looked forward to High Level visits between the two countries.

Ambassador Dr. Karunadasa had been the former Professor of International Relations at the University of Colombo, who later joined the Bar as a Counsel of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal subsequent to his retirement in 2008.  He also served as the Commissioner of National Housing prior to his diplomatic assignment.