Just a day after the country’s Chamber of Commerce announced that Sri Lankan manufactured ‘Footwear’ exports have doubled during the year 2013 compared to what was exported in 2012, Sri Lanka’s Cultural Minister T.B. Ekanayake was seen wearing  funny shoes at a top level diplomatic meeting in Colombo yesterday.

The meeting was also attended by President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Chinese President Xi Jinping who was on a brief visit to Sri Lanka.

Minister Ekanayake had to tip-toe when called to sign an agreement on “Cooperation between the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television of China and the Ministry of Culture and the Arts of Sri Lanka.” A hawk-eyed photographer, who was present at the event, captured minister Ekanayake’s discomfiture.

It was not immediately clear from where the minister secured the fancy shoes which came undone at a rather awkward moment. Even the usual cobblers seen on Colombo streets had been moved away to make way for VVIP convoys.

(Courtesy: Foreign Correspondents Association - Sri Lanka)