Egypt and Sri Lanka are bound by historic friendship relations, which date back to the exile of the Egyptian patriotic leader Ahmed Orabi and his companions to Ceylon in 1883. The patriotic leader and a number of his family members stayed there till 1901, and “Ahmed Orabi Museum” was opened in the Sri Lankan city of Kandy, on November 13th, 1983. Egypt and Sri Lanka named streets after each others; Egypt named the street where the Sri Lankan Embassy is located in Zamalek district in Cairo “Sri Lanka St.”, and Sri Lanka gave the name “Ahmed Orabi” to one of the streets in the Islamic District in Maradana during the visit of the former Sri Lankan Prime Minister to Cairo in 1986.

After the independence of both countries diplomatic ties have been strengthened, and later it flourished during the fifties and sixties since both countries were founding members of the NAM.