Sri Lankabhimanya Lakshman Kadirgamar, PC was a Sri Lankan lawyer and statesman. He served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka from 1994 to 2001 and again from April 2004 until his assassination in August 2005. Lakshman Kadirgamar served as the President of Oxford Union in 1958–59.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs is an appointment in the Cabinet of Sri Lanka who is responsible for overseeing the international diplomacy of the Government of Sri Lanka. The post was first created in 1947 as Minister of External Affairs and Defence, in 1977 the Ministry of External Affairs and Defence separated into two ministries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence. Prior to the separation of the post the Minister of External Affairs and Defence was held by the Prime Minister since 1947, with a Parliamentary Secretary for Defence and External Affairs who was an elected parliamentarian and was the de facto foreign minister.