Sunday Morning News

Demonstrators in India Protest Clinton's Visit to South Asia

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KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We begin with President Clinton's trip to South Asia. The last time a U.S. president set foot in India, the Dow was at 831, gasoline was about 63 cents a gallon, "Star Wars" was dominating the box office, disco was the rage, and American TV viewers were about to turn "Roots" into a cultural phenomenon.

Mr. Clinton, seen here departing Washington yesterday, is due to arrive in New Delhi about 30 minutes from now.

The last time a president visited the country was January 1978, when Jimmy Carter spent about a week there. Despite the enormous cultural changes since then, one thing remains the same concern over nuclear proliferation. It was an issue during the last presidential visit, and it will be this time as well.

While the Indian government is looking to boost its relations with the U.S. through the visit, there are some in India who are vigorously opposed to President Clinton's presence in the country.

For more on that, here's CNN New Delhi bureau chief Satinder Bindra.

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SATINDER BINDRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Indian government says President Bill Clinton's visit will build stronger ties between the world's two largest democracies. Although small in numbers, these demonstrators say the visit is a big mistake.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE INDIAN: We are here to burn the effigy of Bill Clinton, number one, because he represents the unholy trinity of IMF, World Bank, and WTO, he represents the domination of the multinational corporations in the world, he represents a cultural onslaught on our people and on our culture. And, therefore, we feel threatened by his arrival here in this country.

BINDRA: Most of these demonstrators are workers and farmers. They say Clinton represents the agenda of large U.S. multinationals and does not understand the poor. Others in this country of one billion people disagree. They say Clinton will bring jobs and investment to a region where more than 350 million people still live on less than one U.S. dollar a day.

To greet the world's most powerful man, New Delhi's residents have spruced up their neighborhoods. U.S. flags flutter everywhere. After spending Sunday night in New Delhi, Clinton travels to Bangladesh, one of the most densely populated and poorest countries in the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE BANGLADESHI: We are very glad to welcome to us Clinton as a great leader in the world. We are very much glad and very much happy, because it is the first time in (UNINTELLIGIBLE) visit to our Bangladesh.

BINDRA: The president stays in Bangladesh for one day, where he visits the countryside to see how small loans are changing the lives of millions of people. Clinton then returns to India for a five-day tour. The president says he hopes to convince India's leadership to scale back its nuclear ambitions and reduce tensions with its neighbor, Pakistan.

Satinder Bindra, CNN, New Delhi.

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