U.S. President Bill Clinton is on his way to south Asia for a week-long visit to India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Clinton will become the first U.S. president to visit India and Pakistan in two to three decades, the first US president ever to visit Bangladesh.

Clinton said he hoped to use his trip to reduce tension in south Aisa.

He warned that India and Pakistan must exercise military and diplomatic restraint if they expect good relations with the United States and "a nuclear future is a dangerous future for them and for the world."

His visit is viewed by some people as a strategic shift in U.S. policies toward the subcontinent, a shift from its alliance with Pakistan in the era of the Cold War to its cooperative partnership with India.