US Senator John McCain arrived in Burmese capital Naypyidaw on Wednesday where he is due to meet Burmese lawmakers before traveling to Rangoon on Thursday to meet pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and representatives of other opposition parties.

“Headed to Burma this morning,” McCain wrote on his Twitter account. “Looking forward to seeing my inspiration, Aung San Suu Kyi. It has been a long, long time.”

He met Suu Kyi in Rangoon 15 years ago.

The US Senator is also scheduled to hold separate talks with the Speaker of the House of Nationalities, Khin Aung Myint, and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Thura Shwe Mann, on Wednesday afternoon before flying to former capital Rangoon.

McCain, who was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 US election, is expected to meet one of the country’s new vice-presidents, ex-general Tin Aung Myint Oo. The other vice-president is Dr Sai Mauk Kham, an ethnic Shan MP representing the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party.

Ohn Kyaing, a spokesperson for Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), said the senator will hold talks with the NLD central executive committee, representatives from the Committee Representing the People's Parliament, and ethnic leaders such as Aye Tha Aung, the chairman of the Arakan League for Democracy.

They are all scheduled to meet McCain on Thursday afternoon at 2 pm at the NLD headquarters in Sanchaung Township in Rangoon.

McCain will hold a separate meeting with the NLD central executive committee, before private talks with Suu Kyi at her home overlooking Inya Lake, said Ohn Kyaing.

Ohn Kyaing told The Irrawaddy that he will raise political issues during the NLD meeting with McCain such as the release of more than 2,100 political prisoners, tripartite dialogue, solutions to the civic problems in the country, and the NLD's political stance.

Speaking with the Associated Press in Thailand on Tuesday, McCain said he would assess "the changes being contemplated by the new government ... how serious they are about reform."

The new Burmese government, led by former general Thein Sein, took office in March this year.

While in Thailand, McCain took time to visit the Mae Tao clinic in the Thai border town of Mae Sot where he met up with its founder, Karen physician Dr Cynthia Maung.

Speaking to reporters in Mae Sot, the powerful US Republican said that he will press Burma's new government to initiate national reconciliation, release political prisoners and engage in tripartite dialogue during his trip to the country.

Sen McCain also visited Mae La refugee camp on Tuesday and listened to their views about the shifting political landscape in the country. Mae La houses more than 40,000 Burmese refugees, mostly ethnic Karen villagers who left their homeland due to attacks and human rights abuses by Burmese government troops.

McCain's tour follows a visit to Burma last month by another top US official, Joseph Y. Yun, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. During his trip, Yun called on the government to take "meaningful, concrete steps toward democratic governance," and called on Burma's authorities to release political prisoner