The president said there was "no excuse for violence against innocent people" during a speech during his landmark trip on Nov.19. He also referred to the plight of the Rohingya, suggesting they were being discriminated based on ethnicity.

"National reconciliation will take time, but for the sake of our common humanity, and for the sake of this country's future, it is necessary to stop the incitement and to stop violence."
 
Obama told reporters that he shared Burma President Thein Sein commitment towards reforms in the country.

"I recognize that this is just the first steps on what will be a long journey, but we think that a process of democratic reform and economic reform here in Myanmar ... can lead to incredible development opportunities here," said Obama using the country name preferred by the government and former junta and not Burma that was formerly used in the US.

Obama also met with Suu Kyi at her lakeside villa where she spent nearly 17-years under house arrest for her pro-democracy activism. Obama referred to the meeting with the iconic opposition leader as “a new chapter between the two countries”.
 
"Here, through so many difficult years, is where she has displayed such unbreakable courage and determination. It is here where she showed that human freedom and human dignity cannot be denied."