[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: WILLIAM J. CLINTON (2000, Book I)]
[March 20, 2000]
[Page 498]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 498]]


Remarks at a State Dinner Hosted by President Justice Shahabuddin 
Ahmed of Bangladesh in Dhaka
March 20, 2000

    Mr. President, Prime Minister, 
distinguished guests, this has been a day of extraordinary hospitality, 
insight, and discovery for us. On behalf of the American delegation, I 
thank you for all you have done to make us feel at home.
    For 5 years now, my wife and 
daughter have been singing the glories of 
Bangladesh. Finally, I am glad to see for myself. This day has been a 
watershed for both our nations. Americans admire Bangladesh as a proud 
Muslim nation, devoted to peace with its neighbors, to peacekeeping 
around the world, to tolerance and diversity within its borders.
    When the great Bengali writer Rabindranath Tagore was awarded the 
Nobel Prize for literature, he said this: ``I am glad I have done some 
work to give expression to this great age when the East and the West are 
coming together.'' Although he did not live to see the creation of 
Bangladesh, Tagore would doubtless be proud of all you have done to lead 
your people into a new century. I believe he would also approve of what 
we did today to bring the East and the West closer together.
    I was deeply gratified this morning to be the first American 
President to arrive in Bangladesh, and I am proud of the kind of 
partnership we are forging. It is about more than the ceremony of a 
state visit. It is about promoting democracy and the values that give 
meaning to our lives. It is about helping children stay in school and 
have a better future, about investing in people who have never been 
given a chance to succeed before, and investing in a nation that now has 
a chance to succeed as never before.
    Tomorrow the Sun will rise on a deeper friendship between America 
and Bangladesh. Through our ceremonies and our conversations, we have 
hastened the arrival of a more peaceful new day, the kind of day that 
Tagore spent his life imagining, a new day comprehending not only the 
absence of war and suffering but the presence of mutual understanding 
and common endeavors.
    On behalf of all Americans, I pledge that we will work with you to 
build on this good day, to soften the hard facts of daily hardship, to 
make real the poetry of our finest aspirations.
    I ask you now to join me in a toast to the President, the Prime 
Minister, the people of Bangladesh, and the 
friendship between our two nations. May it grow. May it deepen. May it 
affect the lives of our people in ways that are truly good.
    Thank you very much.

 Note:  The President spoke at approximately 8:30 p.m. in the Banquet 
Hall of the Bangabhawan. In his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister 
Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh. The transcript released by the Office of 
the Press Secretary also included the remarks of President Ahmed.