According to the President's media unit, the Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama and President's Secretary Lalith Weeratunga were also present at the occasion.
On February 21, 2009, the Pope Benedict XVI named Monsignor Joseph Spiteri as the new Apostolic Nuncio in Sri Lanka who was serving as the Nunciature Counsellor at the Office of the Vatican Secretariat of State, Section for Relations with States.