New Delhi (Mizzima) - Burma’s main opposition political party the National League for Democracy said it has urged the United States to initiate talks with the ruling junta as it believes “dialogue is the beginning of a solution” to political problems facing the country.

Nyan Win, NLD spokesperson, said the party’s central executive committee (CEC) members urged a visiting US official on Wednesday to begin and step up the pace of talks with the ruling junta.

“We believe that beginning talks is the first step of finding a solution to the problem,” Nyan Win said.

Stephen Blake, Director of Mainland Southeast Asian office, on a regional tour, on Wednesday met members of the NLD CEC and discussed threadbare the political situation in Burma.

Blake, who is on a four-day tour of Burma, also met the junta’s Foreign Minister Nyan Win and officials from other ministries in capital Naypyitaw, about 350 kilometres north of Rangoon.

“We favour the international community stepping up their interest in Burma’s politics, and engage more frequently in talks with the government,” Nyan Win said.

Blake told NLD leaders that the US has not come up with any decision on a future Burma policy but assured that the US would continue supporting Burma’s democratization.

The US is Burma’s biggest critic and has imposed stringent sanctions against the ruling generals as punishment for their appalling human rights record.

But the US has hinted that it is reviewing its policy on Burma as its current policy of isolating the country by imposing sanctions has proved to be a failure as much as regional countries’ policy of engagement had failed.

But in a statement issued late on Wednesday, the US State Department said Blake’s visit to Burma does not reflect a change in policy or approach.

“Office Director-level officials, including Mr. Blake’s two immediate predecessors, have visited Burma and met Burmese officials on a number of occasions in recent years,” the statement said.