President Clinton arrives in Bangladesh for historic visit

Clinton, with his daughter Chelsea, is given a bouquet of flowers as he arrives at New Delhi International Airport on Sunday night

March 20, 2000
Web posted at: 3:05 p.m. HKT (0705 GMT)

In this story: First U.S. President to visit Bangladesh Protests in New Delhi before Clinton's arrival India, Pakistan cannot reconcile on Kashmir RELATED STORIES, SITES

DHAKA, Bangladesh (CNN) -- U.S. President Bill Clinton arrived early Monday morning in Bangladesh on the first trip to the South Asian country by a U.S. head of state.

A 21-gun salute greeted Clinton as he stepped off Air Force One into humid heat and brilliant sun and was met by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and President Shahabuddin Ahmed.

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Thousands of people, including schoolchildren waving American and Bangladeshi flags, lined Clinton's motorcade route as he traveled to his first stop, a meeting with Hasina in her office.

Shortly before the start of Clinton's daylong visit to Bangladesh, White House spokesman Joe Lockhart announced the cancellation of a visit to the rural village of Joypura, 60 miles from the capital city of Dhaka, "because of concerns raised by the Secret Service."

A senior U.S. administration official told CNN that security service agents and other personnel on site had raised "serious concerns that they could not secure the town."

First U.S. President to visit Bangladesh

President Clinton is the first U.S. president to visit Bangladesh, a Muslim nation about the size of Wisconsin --with a population of 120 million people.

He was to have flown by helicopter to Joypura to tour a girls' school and see a project funded by a lending program that helps women.

Later, he was to lay a wreath at a nearby monument, honoring those killed in Bangladesh's war of independence from Pakistan in 1971.

He is now scheduled to meet with Joypura residents at Dhaka.

Security for President Clinton during his six-day South Asia visit is tight because of tensions between India and Pakistan, and due to pressure by the United States on Pakistan to do more to discourage Taliban authorities in Afghanistan.

The Taliban reportedly are harboring Osama Bin Laden, whom the United States accuses of masterminding two U.S.embassy bombings in Africa last year.

President Clinton will spend most of his time in India -- five cities in five days -- seeking a new relationship to replace Cold War suspicions between India and the United States. He will make a short stop in military-ruled Pakistan on his way home.

In addition, CNN learned that Clinton plans to travel to Geneva at the end of his visit to South Asia in order to meet for talks with Syria's President Hafez al-Assad on the stalled Israeli-Syrian peace talks.

Protests in New Delhi before Clinton's arrival

He stepped off Air Force One on Sunday night in India's capital, New Delhi, accompanied by daughter Chelsea Clinton and his mother-in-law, Dorothy Rodham. His wife, Hillary Clinton, stayed home to campaign for a Senate seat.

Before Clinton's arrival, protesters burned his effigy in New Delhi. In the northern region of Kashmir, police fired tear gas on separatists planning to march to New Delhi to draw Clinton's attention to their cause.

In New Delhi, the protesters chanted, "Death to Bill Clinton. Death to the imperialism of multinationals."

While most Indians welcome President Clinton's visit, several Indian nationalist and communist groups say he will push American economic interests at India's expense.

India, Pakistan cannot reconcile on Kashmir

Demonstrators protested Clinton's visit and set fire to an effigy of the U.S. president

President Clinton also faces an uphill task in trying to narrow differences between India and Pakistan.

Those two nations have fought two wars over the last half-century over rival claims for the Himalayan territory of Kashmir. They clashed again last summer when Pakistan-based fighters seized mountain peaks inside India.

More than 1,000 militants died before the United States persuaded then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan to withdraw the forces.

Ignoring world pressure, India and Pakistan both tested nuclear devices in 1998, dramatically escalating tensions.

Clinton acknowledged the dimensions of the threat when he described the region as "perhaps the most dangerous place in the world today because of tensions over Kashmir and the possession of nuclear weapons." The president's national security adviser, Sandy Berger, said neither India nor Pakistan has deployed nuclear weapons. "That's an important step not taken," he said. But neither is willing to sign a nuclear test ban treaty.

During President Clinton's visit, India and the United States are to sign a "vision statement" outlining the goals and principles of a future relationship between the two countries.

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