David Cameron Meets Aung San Suu Kyi to Call for Burma Sanctions Suspension

Prime Minister David Cameron met with pro-democracy and opposition leader, Aung Suu Kyi, and called on sanctions against Burma to be suspended.

Standing alongside the Nobel Prize laureate Suu Kyi, Cameron, the first British Prime Minister to visit Burma in more than 60 years, said the country's steps towards democracy should now be encouraged.

"I think it is right to suspend sanctions that there are against Burma," he said before adding "To suspend them, not to lift them."

"[Burma] shouldn't be as poor as it is, it shouldn't have suffered under dictatorship for as long as it has and things don't have to be that way.

"There is the real prospect of change and I'm very much committed to working with you in trying to help make sure that your country makes those changes.

"I met with President Thien Sein today and there are prospects for change in Burma and I think it is right for the rest of the world to respond to those changes."

Calling for caution until steps towards greater democracy are further consolidated Cameron added: "I do think it is important to send a signal that we want to help see the changes that can bring the growth of freedom of human rights and democracy in your country."

Aung San Suu Kyi agreed with the Prime Minister saying: "We still have a long way to go but we believe we can get there.

"I believe President Thien Sein is genuine about democratic reforms and I am very happy that Prime Minister Cameron thinks that the suspension of sanctions is the right way to respond to this.

"I support the lifting, rather than the suspension, of sanctions because this would be an acknowledgement of the role of the president and other reformers.

Cameron had started his visit in Burma by meeting and holding talks with the country's president Thein Sein.

The two men met at the president's office in the new capital, Naypyitaw with Cameron congratulating him for the pro-democracy initiatives in the country.