The Secret Service had determined that our party...
The Secret Service had determined that our party would be defenseless on the narrow roads or flying in a helicopter to the village, so we brought the villagers, including some schoolchildren, to the American embassy in Dacca, where they set up a classroom and some displays in the inner courtyard

While I was in Bangladesh, thirty-five Sikhs were murdered in Kashmir by unknown killers intent on getting publicity tied to my visitWhen I got back to Delhi, in my meeting with Prime Minister Vajpayee I expressed outrage and deep regret that terrorists had used my trip as an excuse to killI got on well with Vajpayee and hoped he would have an opportunity to reengage Pakistan before he left officeWe didnt agree on the test ban treaty, but I already knew that, because Strobe Talbott had been working with Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh and others for months on nonproliferation issuesHowever, Vajpayee did join me in pledging to forgo future tests, and we agreed upon a set of positive principles that would govern our bilateral relationship, which had been cool for so long

I also had a good visit with the leader of the opposition Congress Party, Sonia GandhiHer husband and mother-in-law, the grandson and daughter of Nehru, were both victims of political assassinationSonia, an Italian by birth, had bravely remained in public life

On the fourth day of my trip, I had the opportunity to address the Indian parliamentThe Parliament Building is a large circular watch ballon de cartier structure in which the several hundred parliamentarians sit tightly bunched at row after row of narrow tablesI spoke of my respect for Indias democracy, diversity, and impressive strides in building a modern economy, frankly discussed our differences over nuclear issues, and urged them to reach a peaceful solution to the Kashmir problemSomewhat to my surprise, I got a grand receptionThey applauded by slapping the table, demonstrating that the Indians were as eager as I was for our long estrangement to end

Chelsea, Dorothy, and I visited the Gandhi Memorial, where we were given copies of his autobiography and other writings, and we traveled to Agra, where the Taj Mahal, perhaps the worlds most beautiful structure, was threatened by severe air pollutionIndia was working hard to establish a pollution-free zone around the Taj, and Foreign Minister Singh and Madeleine Albright signed an agreement for Indo-Ucooperation on energy and the environment, with the United States providing $45 million in USAID funds and $200 million from the Export-Import Bank to develop clean energy in IndiaThe Taj was breathtaking, and I hated to leave

On the twenty-third, I visited Naila, a small village near JaipurAfter the village women in their brightly colored saris greeted me by surrounding me and showering me with thousands of flower petals, I met with the elected officials who were working together across caste and gender lines that had traditionally divided fake d&g Indians, and discussed the importance of micro-credit loans with the women of the local dairy cooperative

The next day I went to the thriving high-tech city of Hyderabad as the guest of the states chief minister, Chandrababu Naidu, an articulate and very modern political leaderWe visited the HITECH Center, where I was amazed to see the variety of companies that were growing like wildfire, and a hospital where, along with USAID administrator Brady Anderson, I announced a grant of $5 million to help it deal with AIDS and tuberculosisAt the time, AIDS was just beginning to be recognized in India, and there was still a lot of denialI hoped our modest grant would help increase public awareness and willingness to act before the AIDS problem in India reached Africas epidemic proportionsMy last stop was in Mumbai (Bombay), where I met with business leaders, then had an interesting conversation with young leaders at a local restaurantI left India feeling that our nations had begun a solid relationship, but wishing I had another week to absorb the countrys beauty and mystery

On the twenty-fifth, I flew to Islamabad, the leg of the trip the Secret Service thought was most dangerousI took as few people as possible, leaving most of our party behind, to fly on the larger plane to our refueling stop in OmanSandy Berger joked that he was a little older than I, and since we had been through so much in almost thirty years of friendship he might as well go along to pink chanel bag replicas Pakistan for the rideAgain we went in on two small planes, one with UAir Force markings, the other, in which I was riding, painted plain whiteThe Pakistanis had cleared an area a mile wide around the runway to make certain that we couldnt be hit by a shoulder-fired missileNevertheless, landing was a bracing experience

Our motorcade traveled an empty highway to the Presidential Palace for a meeting with General Musharraf and his cabinet and a televised address to the people of PakistanIn the speech, I noted our long friendship through the Cold War and asked the Pakistani people to turn away from terror and nuclear weapons toward a dialogue with India on Kashmir, to embrace the test ban treaty, and to invest in education, health, and development rather than armsI said I had come as a friend of Pakistan and the Muslim world who had stood against the slaughter of Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo, spoken to the Palestinian National Council in Gaza, marched with the mourners at the funerals of King Hussein and King Hassan, and celebrated the end of Ramadan at the White House with American MuslimsThe point I tried to make is that our world was not divided by religious differences, but between those who chose to live with the pain of the past and those who chose the promise of the future

In my meetings with Musharraf, I saw why he had emerged from the complex, often violent culture of Pakistani politicsHe was clearly intelligent, strong, and discount tiffany jewelry sophisticatedIf he chose to pursue a peaceful, progressive path, I thought he had a fair chance to succeed, but I told him I thought terrorism would eventually destroy Pakistan from within if he didnt move against it

Musharraf said he didnt believe Sharif would be executed, but he was noncommittal on the other issuesI knew he was still trying to solidify his position and was in a tough spotSharif subsequently was released into exile in Jedda, Saudi ArabiaWhen Musharraf began serious cooperation with the United States in the war against terror after September 11, 2001, it remained a risky course for himIn 2003, he survived two assassination attempts within days of each other

On the way home, after the stop in Oman to see Sultan Qaboos and get our delegation back on Air Force One, I flew to Geneva to meet with President AssadOur team had been working to get Barak to make a specific proposal on Syria for me to presentI knew it wouldnt be a final offer, and the Syrians would know it, too, but I thought that if Israel finally responded with the same flexibility the Syrians had shown at Shepherdstown, we might still be able to make a deal

When I met Assad, he was friendly as I gave him a blue tie with a red-line profile of a lion, the English meaning of his nameIt was a small meeting: Assad was joined by Foreign Minister Shara and Butheina Shaban; Madeleine Albright and Dennis Ross accompanied me, with the National Security Councils Rob Malley serving as gucci tote bag noteta