PM And Obama: World Counts On UK-US Alliance

David Cameron and Barack Obama have pledged to keep up the "essential relationship" between Britain and America, as the Prime Minister prepares to head to Washington for talks with the president.

Mr Cameron - accompanied by his wife Samantha, Foreign Secretary William Hague and Chancellor George Osborne - will arrive in Washington today for a two-day official visit.

The trip is one level below a full state visit, which only the Queen as Britain's head of state is entitled to in America.

The Camerons have been invited by Mr Obama following the president's visit to the UK in May last year.

The two leaders used a joint article in today's Washington Post to stress the warmth of trans-Atlantic relations.

"The alliance between the United States and Great Britain is a partnership of the heart, bound by the history, traditions and values we share," they wrote.

"But what makes our relationship special - a unique and essential asset for our nations and the world - is that we join hands across so many endeavours.

"Put simply, we count on each other and the world counts on our alliance."

The visit will include an official ceremonial welcome, including a 19-gun salute, a full state dinner and an unusual flying visit to a basketball tournament in Ohio .

Mr Obama will be whisking the Prime Minister to Dayton Ohio in Air Force One to view the March Madness championships of the college basketball season .

Mrs Cameron will be hosted by America's First Lady Michelle Obama on a series of visits to schools, helping promote her drive to prevent childhood obesity.

Away from the ceremony and symbolism, the agenda will be dominated by foreign policy and economic issues.

The world's failure to prevent the Syrian regime butchering its own people will be one issue the two leaders will need to address.

Events in Afghanistan have also made for a sombre backdrop.

The killing of 16 Afghan civilians by a US soldier is complicating efforts to plan for Nato's withdrawal from the country.

There is also mounting concern in Washington about Iran's nuclear programme and the possibility Israel may launch a unilateral operation to strike its facilities with potentially devastating consequences.

Mr Obama will be grateful for any British help in containing both the Iranian nuclear threat and the possibility of Israel taking matters into its own hands.

Both leaders will seek to exploit the political benefits of the visit.

PM And Obama: World
Counts On UK-US Alliance 

Mr Obama can profit from arriving in a key election battleground state with a world leader on his wing when the two land in Ohio.

With Europe in serious economic and political trouble, Mr Cameron can highlight his party's assiduous cultivation of a more powerful ally on this side of the Atlantic and stress the economic benefits that brings in these troubled times.

The two men are thought to have a business-like relationship, speaking to each when necessary but avoiding the controversial cosiness Tony Blair shared with George Bush.

But they have plenty in common and a friendship that this visit is likely to deepen.