military operations

Sri Lankan ambassador visits Helena, Butte during Montana tour

Following a Montana National Guard emergency aid mission to the country, the Sri Lankan ambassador to the United States and the country's Montana liaison, Mahinda Samarasinghe, visited the Treasure State this week to talk future partnerships and mining education.

“It’s good to see you,” Samarasinghe said, shaking hands with Gov. Greg Gianforte inside the Montana State Capitol on Tuesday.

“Welcome to Montana,” Gianforte replied. “What an honor that you’d travel to come see us.”

Sri Lanka and Montana are connected via the Department of Defense’s State Partnership Program and work together on training missions and recovery efforts. After Cyclone Ditwah devastated Sri Lanka in late November, 19 Montanans with the Guard offered medical, engineering and disaster management assessments to help Sri Lankans determine a path forward.

But Montana and Sri Lanka aren’t just connected through disaster management efforts, Brig. Gen. Trent Gibson said Tuesday. Samarasinghe’s scheduled March 30 to April 1 visit aims to connect him with Montana leaders in engineering, commerce and politics.

The meeting has been six months in the making, Montana National Guard Lt. Col. Tom Figarelle said.

On Tuesday morning, tour guide Anthony Schrillo walked the ambassador and his team through the state Capitol in Helena before handing them over to Gianforte for an official sit-down meeting.

Later Tuesday the ambassador visited Montana Tech in Butte. There they met with school representatives and received tours of different programs housed in the school.

With Sri Lanka’s investment in mining, Gibson said, Montana Tech and its technological resources stood out as a link for future growth in the Sri Lanka-Montana partnership. There’s a possibility Montana mining industry representatives will be sent to the island nation for a training project.

“We want to show that ‘whole of government,’” Gibson said. “Montanans, we’re to our word, gritty, tough. We’re also compassionate, and we’re here to help.”