On 29 March 2023, Hon. Dr. Bandula Gunawardana, Minister of Transport and Railways, Minister of Mass Communication of Sri Lanka, visited the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (Patrice Lumumba University).

The Sri Lankan delegation, which included H. E. Prof. Janitha A. Liyanage, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Russian Federation, and other staff members of the Embassy, was greeted by Prof. Oleg Yastrebov, Rector of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, as well as the Administration of the University.
The Rector of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia informed Hon. Minister that the University has long and strong relations with Sri Lanka in the sphere of education and within more than 60 years of its history it has provided education to more than 1 000 highly qualified students from Sri Lanka. Prof. Oleg Yastrebov also noted that with assistance of H. E. Prof. Janitha A. Liyanage last year two delegations of the University visited Sri Lanka and three Memorandums of Understanding were signed with Sri Lankan Universities. He noted that the visit of Hon. Minister would give yet another impetus to development of cooperation.
Hon. Dr. Bandula Gunawardana, Minister of Transport and Railways, Minister of Mass Communication of Sri Lanka, in his turn appreciated the valuable contribution of the University to the education of Sri Lanka and proposed Rector to start a branch of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia in Sri Lanka. Hon. Minister assured that he would facilitate to this initiative, as Sri Lanka is interested in becoming an educational hub, which would attract foreign students to obtain high quality education on the island.
The sides agreed that apart from development of University-to-University relations, they would work on the possibility of opening of the branch of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia in Sri Lanka. After conclusion of the official part, the delegation visited the Mission Control Centre of the University and listened to the presentation about the most recent high-tech research of the University.