VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) — President Barack Obama has become the first sitting U.S. president to visit the isolated, landlocked Southeast Asian nation of Laos.
He arrived late Monday in the capital, Vientiane, for a three-day visit that’s meant to close a dark chapter in the shared history between the two countries and rebuild trust.
Obama flew in from Hangzhou, China, where he attended the Group of 20 economic summit.
In Laos, Obama planned to acknowledge damage caused by a U.S. bombing campaign across the border in Vietnam during America’s war with that country.
He is expected to announce new aid to help clean up tens of millions of unexploded bombs that dot the country’s mountain villages and fields, keeping them out of reach of unsuspecting people.
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