Sri Lankan ambassador visits Montana to grow Guard partnership

Montana — Sri Lankan Ambassador Mahinda Samarasinghe visited Montana for the first time as state leaders met with him about a partnership that reached from the Montana National Guard to higher education.

The visit included meetings with leaders in government, the National Guard and higher education. State leaders said the trip also focused on long-term ties in business, transportation, education and technology, including work with schools like Montana Tech.

The visit followed the Montana National Guard's formal partnership with Sri Lanka. That work centered on sharing resources, training and disaster response strategies.

Leaders said that cooperation had already been used during recent cyclone impacts, when Montana Guard members provided support on the ground.

The visit also highlighted how state leaders saw the relationship taking shape in Montana in a local way while extending overseas.

"You know, we've had that, you know, disaster that has happened there. And unfortunately, you know, earlier, last or late last year and, you know, we were able to go over there and, and help support them. And, and it's really an opportunity for our soldiers and airmen as well to, to, you know, get outside Montana and really bring the values that the National Guard has and all those other skills," said Adjutant General Trent Gibson of the Montana National Guard. "It's normal for us in Montana to help our neighbors and to see people in need in the National Guard stepping in and bringing us onto a world stage. It's just been just been exciting," he said.

For state leaders, the visit centered on showing the partnership was built to last rather than serve as a short-term effort.

The ambassador's trip marked another step in Montana's growing international connections through government, military cooperation and education partnerships with Sri Lanka.