Cameron meets pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi

Cameron meets pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi at her lakeside home in Rangoon, Burma, today. Britain is the largest bilateral aid donor to Burma, Cameron says, and that money does not go to the government, it goes to aid organisations.We are committed to Burma, he says. We are a friend of Burma's. You have struggled too long under dictatorship, Cameron says, and we want to be your partners in achieving democracy. Cameron says this is the crossroads of Asia, endowed with enormous natural resources. It shouldn't be as poor as it is today, he says. He is optimistic that if Burma can make these political changes it could then become much more economically successful. Cameron says when the EU sanctions come up "for ending" in April he will argue that they are suspended. That should cover everything except the arms embargo, he says. Let me be clear, he says: there is still much, much more that needs to be done. We know what a long road needs to be travelled between now and 2015, Cameron says. Burma has been crying out for freedom and it is worth taking that risk, Cameron says. Aung San Suu Kyi is asked what the strength is of opponents of democracy. She says she does not know what it is but it does not in any way match the strength of those who want democracy. "I'm a cautious optimist," she says, but she is determined to make sure the will of the people is heard. Cameron says when democracy becomes embedded you can't expect to win 45 byelections in a row. My colleague Nicholas Watt asks if Aung San Suu Kyi is parlaying with the enemy like her father did. She says she is parlaying with people who are no longer the enemy. She says the byelections showed a revolution of the spirit in Burma. Cameron says he has invited Aung San Suu Kyi to come to the UK in June and he hopes she will be able to leave Burma and then return to Burma. She says two years ago she would have said she couldn't go (because she wouldn't have been allowed back) - but now she can say: "Perhaps." And that is progress, she says. Aung San Suu Kyi is asked about the disappointments of the past. She says they were not disappointments, they were setbacks; she and her colleagues had to take risks then, and they have to take risks now. Cameron says he can't speak for the regime to say why they are opening up now, but he notes that in Burma's neighbours democracy and economic growth are going hand in hand. There is much more we need to do - we will keep that pressure on, he says. If we really want to see freedom and democracy in Burma, we should respond when they take action, Cameron says. Cameron is asked if suspending sanctions removes the pressure on the government to keep reforming. I think it's right to respond positively to the steps the president has already made, Cameron says. But suspending the sanctions rather than lifting them is the right thing to do, he says. Let's not forget how far things have come, he says. We are standing in a house where you were under house arrest for decades, he says, addressing Aung San Suu Kyi. I am very, very happy to welcome all of you, not just the prime minister, to Burma, and as this is the time of the water festival, it is a good opportunity to wash away all your sins, if you have any, she says.Media agencies