The Residence of the Sri Lankan Ambassador to Russia opened its doors in the evening of November 7, 2018, for the first official reception hosted by Ambassador Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka for Russian guests representing a number of Sri Lanka-Russia partnership areas. The presentation of the Ambassador's Credentials to President Vladimir Putin was the primary occasion of the event; however, the special choice of the date was symbolic. In his welcome remarks, Ambassador Jayatilleka highlighted November 7th as the date of the Russian Revolution which, 101 years ago, gave momentum to worldwide geopolitical processes and, along with Russia's victory over Nazism in 1945, propulsed important processes in the human history, including the weakening of the colonial system and establishment of national sovereignty in a number of countries, including Sri Lanka.
The fine halls of the Ambassador's Residence, decorated with red carnations, a symbol and tribute to Russia's revolutionary history, welcomed representatives of a range of Parliament, Government, social, trade and intelligentsia circles. Among them, the leaders of the renascent Russia-Sri Lanka Friendship Society gathering cosmonauts and senators, strong representation of defense sector including the United Aircraft Corporation overarching Russia's major aircraft engineering works, and representatives of Government bodies which are key to the focal areas of SL-R. cooperation. To name just a few, Rosselkhoznadzor, the Russian surveillance authority ensuring the quality of fish & seafood imports from Sri Lanka as well those of spices and tea; the Ministry of Science and Higher Education which, over the years, has been providing important and timely assistance to the Embassy in placing Sri Lankan students in leading Russian Universities.
The Russian guests underscored further potential of interaction in a spectrum of areas including tourism, research, humanitarian and confessional relations. This went in line with President Putin's expectation to strengthen Russia-Sri Lanka cooperation, as he had noted in his Kremlin speech when receiving the Ambassador's Letters of Credence. Addressing the guests, Ambassador Jayatilleka expressed hope that the current political changes in Sri Lanka would drive to further reinforcement of cooperation with Russia.
The reception was accompanied by an impressive music program courtesy of Jazz Passage Quartet which had participated in the celebrations if International Jazz Days established thanks to the initiative of Dr. Jayatilleka, then the Sri Lankan Ambassador in Paris. The event flew into a highly-complimented buffet dinner where the inventive menu "modern Russuan fusion" recipes with the brightness of Ceylon spices and delicateness of coconut products coming straight from Sri Lanka.
