British PM David Cameron called President Barack Obama at the White House on Tuesday during his maiden visit to Washington as UK Prime Minister. Issues pertaining to BP oil leak, mission in Afghanistan and global economy are likely to be the main topic of the discussion between the two leaders.
Prior to the meeting, Cameron told a US daily that he would be "hard-headed and realistic” on the UK-US ties. After the meeting, both the leaders are expected to address a joint conference. During the visit, Cameron is slated to meet top US leadership and discuss a host of issues. He is also due to meet four US senators on the Lockerbie bomber's release issue.
Cameron and Obama have previously met on the sidelines of G8 and G20 Summits in Canada last month. Writing in the Wall Street Journal, the visiting PM said that he and the president had a "very clear common agenda: succeeding in Afghanistan, securing economic growth and stability at home and across the world, fighting protectionism". He called himself "unapologetically pro-America", adding: "I understand that we are the junior partner - just as we were in the 1940s and, indeed, in the 1980s." "But we are a strong, self-confident country clear in our views and values, and we should behave that way.” “In a world of fast-growing, emerging economies, we have a responsibility to engage more widely and bring new countries to the top table of the international community. "To do so is pro-American and pro-British, because it's the only way we will maintain our influence in a changing world."
The visit comes as four senators, from New York and New Jersey, are seeking a probe into reports that BP lobbied for the early release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the main accused of 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103, which killed 270 people. The Libyan, who is ill with terminal prostate cancer, was released by Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill in August last year on compassionate grounds. In spite of controversies, MacAskill told the BBC: "I stand by the decision I made. I reflected and followed the rules and laws of Scotland. I upheld the values and the beliefs that we seek to live by as the people of Scotland."
