On the instructions of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa yesterday, the Sri Lanka Embassy in Beijing today, submitted an application to land a Sri Lankan Airlines aircraft in Wuhan city airport to airlift 32 Sri Lankan students including their family members. The Embassy is closely following up with the Foreign Ministry of China and Foreign Affairs Office of the Wuhan Province to expedite the process of obtaining clearance for the landing of the aircraft, as soon as they are allowed to travel out of their present locations.

The Ministry, Embassy and Consulate Generals are also working with the Sri Lankan Airlines in seeking to operationalize instructions to bring back all other Sri Lankan students presently in China. It is estimated that presently approximately 860 students remain in China, spread in various city centres throughout the country.

On January 21, 2020 Mr. Mohamed Anas, Sri Lanka's Charge d' Affairs in Russia, attended the Thomas Gainsborough exhibition, co-organized by the State Museum of Fine Arts named after Pushkin, the Diplomatic Academy and State Protocol Department of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The exhibition was devoted to the development and establishment of the artistic style of the outstanding painter Thomas Gainsborough, one of the founders of the 18th century British artistic school.

The Heads of Diplomatic Missions accredited in Moscow with their spouses were welcomed by the Director of the Museum Mrs. Loshak, who underlined that the Museum was always open for collaboration with the diplomatic community.