Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to the Russian Federation Prof. M.D. Lamawansa accompanied by Mr. Mohamed Anas, Deputy Head of Mission, Ms. Nirosha Herath, Second Secretary (Cultural matters and Education), Ms. Nayomi Chandrasiri (Education), Ms. Olessya Romanova, Personal Assistant to H. E. the Ambassador and Ms. Yulia Builova, Culture Promotion Assistant, paid a visit to Rossotrudnichestvo, a Federal Agency for the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation, which operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, and is represented in 80 states of the world.

The guests were received by the Deputy Head of Rossotrudnichestvo Dr. Pavel Shevtsov, Head of the Directorate for Country Programmes Mr. Valery Platonov, Deputy Head of the Directorate for Education and Science Projects Ms. Natalya Mamayeva, Head of the Department of Cooperation in the Sphere of Higher Education and Vocational Education Mr. Igor Polyachenko, Consultant of the department for Asian and African countries of the Directorate for Country Programmes.
Ambassador Prof. M.D. Lamawansa and Dr. Pavel Shevtsov stressed the opportunities for collaboration in the field of education, including the matters related to scholarships and opportunities for receiving higher education by Sri Lankan students in the Russian Universities, and options for having practical training for Russian students in Sri Lanka. The Ambassador spoke about the priority areas to extend cooperation in and emphasized the need for establishing links between the educational institutions of Sri Lanka and Russia.
Promotion of Russian and Sinhala languages in each other's country, the dual diploma programmes and joint research projects were also discussed during the meeting. The Russian side proposed to engage resources of Russian Universities in regions more actively to train personnel for Sri Lanka in the priority areas.
Particular attention was given to the initiative of establishment of Sri Lankan Cultural Center and Buddhist temple in Moscow to promote culture, traditions and history of Sri Lanka in Russia.
Ambassador Prof. M.D. Lamawansa and the Deputy Head of Rossotrudnichestvo Dr. Shevtsov underlined the growing interest for exchange of young people, including journalists, in the framework of the New Generation Programme, which implies the facilitation of short trips to the Russian Federation for young representatives of foreign states to get familiarized with Russian social, political, economic, scientific, educational and cultural life, in order to develop ideas on partnership between the Russian Federation and the countries they represent.