Obama praises Burma's 'remarkable journey' towards democracy Barack Obama has called on Asian nations to follow the example of Burma's "remarkable journey" towards democracy as he made a historic visit to the former international pariah. Tens of thousands of people poured on to the streets to welcome the first sitting US president to visit the long politically isolated country. During the six-hour visit, Obama met the president, Thein Sein, a former army general who has driven through many recent reforms, before visiting the veteran pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi at the colonial-era stucco house where she spent much of the past 20 years under house arrest. He then gave a televised speech to an audience of more than a thousand students, opposition politicians, campaigners, ethnic leaders, NGO workers and cultural and religious figures at Rangoon university. Burma could serve as "a test of whether a country can transition to a better place," he said. "When I took office as president, I sent a message to those governments who ruled by fear: we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your first," Obama said. So today, I have come to keep my promise, and extend the hand of friendship. The president called on the leadership of North Korea to "let go of [their] nuclear weapons, and choose the path of peace and progress" and said the US welcomed the "peaceful rise" of China, Burma's northern neighbour, and India. Here in Rangoon, I want to send a message across Asia: we don't need to be defined by the prisons of the past. We need to look forward to the future," the president said. But most of his 30-minute address was devoted to outlining a vision of a prosperous, free and democratic Burma to his audience - and to the still-powerful generals who ruled the country for 50 years. Speaking of how four freedoms - to speak, to associate, to worship and to live without fear - were essential, he was applauded when he said that in a democracy the most important "office holder" was "the citizen." Obama also mentioned political prisoners several times, spoke of recent ethnic violence largely directed against the Rohingya Muslim minority and stressed the need to embrace diversity as he said the US had done. Huge challenges lie ahead ... but something is happening in this country that cannot be reversed. The flickers of progress we have seen must not be extinguished," the president said. Thant Myint-U, a Burmese historian who was in the audience, said the speech had been well crafted. It resonated. Exposure to western democracy has a powerful effect here," he said. Thinzar Khin Myo Win, a 28-year-old teacher, said the speech meant "everything" for the people of Burma. He really said to each of us that the power of the people can really change the country. That was great," she added. Burma has undergone rapid change in the past two years, which has seen parts - though by no means all - of a brutally repressive regime dismantled. Censorship has been eased, some political prisoners freed and a byelection held as a result of which opposition politicians entered parliament. However, grave problems remain. The president's trip has been criticised by human rights activists and exile groups who say it has come too soon. Aides have argued that engaging more fully with Burma will encourage reform. But Obama's speech, though it largely focused on internal issues, made clear that one key aim of the visit was to send a message to leaders and populations further afield. By late afternoon, Obama had arrived in Cambodia, also a country previously never visited by a US president, where he was scheduled to have dinner with the long-serving prime minister, Hun Sen, another figure much-criticised by human rights campaigners and environmentalists. The White House said Obama would raise concerns about Cambodia's human rights record during the meeting.