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| Jacqueline Fernandez had role in embassy decision |
Opening Sri Lanka embassy in the Bahrain capital Manama
Sri Lankan beauty queen and Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez who grew up in Bahrain has reportedly played a role in her country’s decision to open an embassy in the Bahrain capital Manama, an Indian news source said.
“By birth, Jacqueline may be a Sri Lankan, but the actress takes her affiliation to Bahrain quite seriously,” NDTV said. “She recently helped in dialogues that will soon lead to the opening of the Lankan embassy in the Gulf country.”
Citing sources it did not identify, NDTV said that “Jacqueline has spent a lot of her growing up years in Bahrain, as her parents moved there”.
“There was no Sri Lankan embassy in Bahrain but only a consulate and she felt there was a need for someone to protect immigrants of a particular nation in another country. Apparently, thanks to her popularity the actress pulled a few strings and took matters into her hands. She had many meetings with those in power and urged them to open the embassy,” the news source said.
Reports in Manama in December said that Sri Lanka was set to open its first fully operational embassy in Bahrain that will support the more than 20,000 Sri Lankans living in the country.
Jacqueline Fernandez who holds a degree in media and communications was born to a Sri Lankan father and a Malaysian mother. Her family moved to Bahrain when she was three.
Jacqueline Fernandez was crowned Miss Sri Lanka in 2006 and made her acting debut in Bollywood in 2009.
