On April 17, 2019, the Ambassador and Madame Jayatilleka made their first visit to Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Far Eastern Studies (IFES) to meet with IFES Director, Dr. Sergey G. Luzyanin, and Dr. Sergey V. Uyanaev, Deputy Director leading the Centre for Forecasting of Contemporary Russia-China Relations at IFES, and Dr. Tamara A. Karganova, Head of IFES International Relations.
The Institute of Far Eastern Studies grew from the Soviet Academy of Sciences' institution founded over 60 years ago to pursue in-depth studies of China, its domestic and foreign policy, which became a crucial area of research at the time of USSR-PRC rapprochement in 1950ies. Later, it expanded to cover the entire Eastern Asia and Pacific studies with 10 research units, half of them covering different aspects of Chinese studies, and the other 5 dedicated to Japan, DPRK and Republic of Korea, Mongolia as well as greater regional organisations such as SCO, ASEAN, as well as the emerging structures such as RIC (Russia-India-China), the Belt and Road, and the new Indo-Pacific concept.
Among hundreds of monographs and other research materials authored by IFES scholars, the Institute is proud of its unique reference publications, such as the 10-volume History of China and the 6-volume Encyclopædia of Chinese Spiritual Culture, both books having to peers in China itself.
Dr. Sergey Luzyanin has been the head of IFES since 2015. State Doctor of History, born in Irkutsk in Eastern Siberia, originally a Mongolia expert, he has become one of Russia's leading scholars in the spheres of international relations and global governance; PRC's domestic and foreign policy and Russia-China bilateral relations; security in Asia-Pacific and Central Asia. Dr. Luzyanin is the author of 163 research publications, including 8 monographs. He is a Professor at the Chair of Oriental Studies of MGIMO, Moscow State Institute of International Relations, the core school of the Russian Foreign Ministry, and led MGIMO's Russia-ASEAN International Research Centre.
Dr. Sergey Uyanaev, MGIMO graduate with his PhD received at IFES, former Soviet-Russian Novosti Press Agency foreign correspondent with a decade-long experience in East Asia, and a decade spent in foreign trade, returned to academic activity at IFES in early 2000nds to become the Institute's key expert in Chinese domestic and foreign policy, RIC and Russia-China-US Triangle.
Calling the discussion a "think-tank mini-conference", Director Luzyanin and Deputy Director Uyanaev expressed their sincere appreciation of the depth of the Ambassador's insight on Sri Lanka's growing role in the new Indo-Pacific framework, as well as Dr. Jayatilleka's knowledge of the history of Russia-China relations, up to the conceptual bases laid by Vladimir Lenin's reflection on the growing impact of China, his support to Sun Yat-sen, and the perspectives voiced by Joseph Stalin for an economic juncture of the world's largest and the world's most populated states. The Director and Head of Contemporary Russia-China Relations Forecasting Centre were unanimous in their hope for further meetings with Ambassador Jayatilleka.
