KOLKATA, India -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton swept through two of Asia's most downtrodden cities Sunday with an upbeat message of economic and political salvation.
From Dhaka, Bangladesh, to Kolkata, India, Clinton urged students, women and representatives of non-profit groups to pressure their governments for change.
That often meant putting herself in the middle of disputes between political leaders, neighboring countries, and East and West Asia. Clinton urged her audiences to demand improved communication and cooperation in order to overcome those disputes.
"This region has been held back in development because of the closed borders, because of the historical enmities," she said at a town hall forum before about 350 mostly young people in Dhaka. But "over the long run, people's needs cannot be denied."
It was the first visit for Clinton as secretary of State to the two cities following three days in China, the nation's fastest developing nation. East India and Bangladesh lag far behind, as was evident at Clinton's motorcade sped past blighted neighborhoods teeming with curious onlookers.
After meeting Saturday with government and opposition leaders in Bangladesh, a nation wracked by the killings and disappearances of political and labor figures, Clinton wound up her two-day visit Sunday by visiting with development experts and students.
She urged the government not to interfere with non-government organizations that provide microcredit and agricultural aid to many of the 150 million people in Bangladesh, the eighth most populous nation in the world. Average annual incomes there are less than $800 per capita.
Clinton cited what she called the "overall dynamism and progress that is being made here" but warned, "people's aspirations probably have developed faster."
While her audiences were largely friendly, Clinton was asked by one youth leader whether the United States is "anti-Muslim."
"That hurts me. That hurts me so much," she said, contrasting the decade-long battle against terrorism with tolerance for all. "President Obama has sent a very clear message of respect and appreciation of all religiions, and particularly of Islam," she said.
In Kolkata, the secretary toured a facility that helps girls and women who were victims of sex trafficking, which she decried as an issue that "has no place in a modern India."
"The entire society should be committed to ridding the country of this terrible scourge," she said.
