David Cameron will make a historic trip to Myanmar on Friday, becoming the first major western leader to visit the country since the west imposed sanctions on its military regime in the late 1990s.
The UK prime minister will make his previously unscheduled visit as part of a swing through Asia that features Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, according to Myanmar government officials.
The trip was added to Mr Cameron’s itinerary after Myanmar’s widely praised April 1 parliamentary by-election. A minister in President Thein Sein’s cabinet told the Financial Times that Mr Cameron’s stop-over, although hastily arranged, would be “an important moment” for Myanmar.