On 09 October 2019 Ambassador of Sri Lanka to the Russian Federation Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, accompanied by Madame Sanja Jayatilleka, attended the All-Russian Youth Forum “Future”, organized at the initiative of Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation Sergey B. Ivanov on the Issues of Environmental Activities, Environment and Transport.
Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka delivered a speech at one of the Forum’s sections, entitled “Role of youth in politics and Russia’s international affairs” and moderated by International Human Rights Committee Vice President Alexander Ionov. Ambassador Jayatilleka shared his own experience as a young activist and urged the attendees to engage in international affairs through learning, conversation, and communication in order to defend their national interest. Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka also stressed the concept of internationalism and pointed out the importance of internationalist solidarity in the struggle for a fair and just world order.
The speech of Ambassador Jayatilleka was followed by a very active Q&A session, during which university students asked questions about the role of the modern youth in Sri Lanka’s politics and which tools could be used to realize the potential of the Russian young generation and their role in diplomacy. Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka underscored the value of exchanging ideas with the same generation across national boundaries and of cultural diplomacy and gave insights into current Sri Lankan political climate.
Furthermore, Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka had a conversation with the founder-leader of the Communist Party of Russia Gennadiy Zyuganov and gave an interview to the TASS Russian News Agency on the margins of the Forum.
The forum gathered many senior representatives of the Russian government authorities, Ambassadors of foreign states, prominent politicians and academicians, representatives of the Moscow-based Diplomatic Corps as well as hundreds of university students. In particular, the event was attended by Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Olga Golodets, Russian Minister of Science and Higher Education Mikhail Kotyukov, Deputy Defence Minister of the Russian Federation and Chief of Main Directorate for Political-Military Affairs of the Russian Armed Forces, Colonel General Andrey Kartapolov.
