Clinton calls Myanmar's Suu Kyi

The U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi, supporting her fight for democracy.

In the first contact between the recently-released opposition leader and the U.S., Clinton spoke to Suu Kyi over the phone and pledged to work with her to strengthen civil society and promote democracy in Burma.

U.S. has long been a supporter of bringing back democracy into the area, and has imposed several sanctions on the country, including banning trade with companies that are involved with the junta in Myanmar.

The government also freezes the companies' assets and transactions if they do persist with trade.

Several nations from ASEAN have been asking the U.S. to lift these sanctions as it hampers several important areas of trade, investment and modern technologies for the development of ethnic regions.

They are urging the U.S. to engage in dialogue with Myanmar instead of imposing sanctions.

U.S. and Myanmar have been in talks since 2009, but President Obama stated that sanctions will be lifted only when democracy is back in the country.

The nation did have elections over the past few years but majority of the international community does not recognize this as 'free and fair' elections.

However, the release of Suu Kyi, who has been the strongest voice for democracy, from her house arrest last year was a surprise move and gave people hope that the current government might be softening its stance on democracy.

Her release, though, came only after new elections were held in Myanmar - denounced by the international community again.

Human rights groups say that Myanmar is still holding more than 2,100 political prisoners who are less prominent than Suu Kyi, AFP reported.