Hon. Sergei Shoigu, the Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation sent a congratulatory letter to Hon. Lakshman Senewiratne on the latter's appointment as the State Minister of Defence of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. A similar note was forwarded by Hon. Col. Gen. A. Fomin, Deputy Minister of Defence of Russia to Mr. Hemasiri Fernando, Sri Lankan Secretary of Defence.

In these official congratulatory letters, forwarded through the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Moscow, the Russian Minister of Defence and his Deputy stressed that Sri Lanka and Russia are bound by long-term diplomatic and friendly relations, established sixty years ago. This year, the mutually beneficial cooperation was further enhanced by signing the Intergovernmental Agreement on Military Cooperation, which became yet another step on the road of strengthening Russia-Sri Lanka relations in the field of defence. Such an agreement opened new prospects for the extended efforts in military cooperation.

The Russian Minister of Defence Sergei Shoigu expressed his confidence that the newly appointed Defence officials will contribute to the development of military and military-technical collaboration between the two countries to the benefit of peacekeeping and stability in the South Asian region and in the Indian Ocean.

The Russian Federation is optimistic for further long-term cooperation between Sri Lanka and Russia in the years to come.