On April 2-4, 2019, Ambassador Jayatilleka made his second round of calls on the Directors of Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Departments in charge of geographic areas belonging to the Global South, primarily in the Indo-Pacific Asia and Latin America.
The purpose of these meetings was to discuss the most recent global and regional processes in the Indo-Pacific, Asia and generally, in the South, and the perspectives of Russia's policy towards these regions.
On April 2nd, the Ambassador met with H. E. Alexey M. Ovchinnikov, Director of Asia and Pacific Cooperation Department, overseeing regional framework organizations such as Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, APEC, and Russia-ASEAN dialogue. Director Ovchinnikov's expertise spreads to other international formats such as G20, former G8 and BRICS, from his recent role as the Deputy Director of the MFA Foreign Policy Planning Department coordinating Russia's interaction with its partners within these organizations, including for their Summit meetings.
On April 3, Ambassador Jayatilleka met with H. E. Dr. Nikolay S. Nozdryov, recently appointed Director of MFA's 3rd Department of Asia covering the vast region of Asia and Pacific countries including Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, as well as Pacific Basin countries. Nikolay Nozdryov holds a PhD in Economics from the respected Moscow State Institute of International Relations and the prestigious International Christian University of Tokyo, and acquired his field experience in high level diplomatic postings in Japan and Australia.
On April 4th, the Ambassador of Sri Lanka paid his first visit to the Latin American Department, to meet with its Deputy Director H. E. Anatoly K. Labetsky, until recently – Russian Ambassador to Uruguay, an experienced diplomat whose 36 years in the USSR, then Russia's foreign service have spread from postings in Angola, Portugal and Brazil through the MFA HQ department overseeing the UK and Scandinavia. Ambassador Jayatilleka's own interest in Latin American issues turned the call into a mutually interesting discussion on the current developments of this currently contentious part of the Global South.
On the same day, April 4, the Ambassador completed his current tour of the key geographic departments by visiting the 1st Department of Asia in charge of the matters, concerning China, DPRK, the Republic of Korea, and Mongolia. The Ambassador met with H.E. Dr. Georgy V. Zinoviev, former Minister Plenipotentiary of the Russian Embassy in PRC, PhD in History, graduate of Moscow State University Institute of Asian and African Studies and the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian MFA, as well as of Foreign Studies University in Beijing.
The Ambassador's first round of calls on senior Russian Foreign Ministry officials in the fall and winter of 2018 included his inaugural meeting with H. E. Igor V. Morgulov, Deputy Foreign Minister in charge of Asia; H. E. Zamir N. Kabulov, Director of the MFA 2nd Department of Asia covering Sri Lanka, along with India, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, the Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan; Mr. Danila V. Ganich, Deputy Director of the same Department, overseeing Russia-Sri Lanka relations; H. E. Ilya I. Rogachev, Director of New Challenges and Threats Department in charge of counter-terrorism, cyber-security, prevention of transnational crime and piracy, and other pressing global challenges; H. E. Pyotr V. Ilyichev, Director of International Organizations Department covering the UN and its numerous bodies; and H. E. Igor V. Bogdashev, Director of Russian State Protocol.
