Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, wrapping up talks in Washington, said the world's two largest democracies would work together on a range of issues including bringing stability to Afghanistan -- a key priority for Obama.

Menon said the two governments were arranging for Obama to meet with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when they travel to London for an April 2 Group of 20 summit.

"We are looking forward to that," Menon said, while adding that India was presuming that Singh -- who had bypass surgery in January -- would be fit enough to travel.

The United States and India "have a transformed relationship beginning in the 1990s. We have managed to move it forward," Menon said.

"I leave Washington confident that we will be rapidly taking this relationship forward with the new administration."

He said that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also told him she hoped to travel soon to India.

India and the United States had uneasy relations during the Cold War, during which New Delhi was non-aligned and maintained warm ties with the Soviet Union.

Relations warmed sharply under Obama's predecessor George W. Bush who pushed through a landmark deal allowing civilian nuclear technology to India despite its refusal to sign the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Xenia Dormandy, who worked to improve ties with India in the Bush White House's National Security Council, said Obama needed New Delhi to meet its major goals ranging from fighting global warming to rebuilding Afghanistan.

"It's not an exaggeration to say that, for many of the most vexing problems Washington faces, India has become the indispensable nation," she wrote in The Christian Science Monitor.

"Obama's team would be wise not to forget it," she said.

The Obama administration, which is still assigning key positions, has had its hands full in Asia in its first nearly two months in office.

Obama has moved quickly to show commitment to Japan, which is sensitive about preserving its status as a key US ally. Obama also meets Thursday with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi as rifts grow between Washington and Beijing.

Menon said that he consulted with Obama administration officials on the political turmoil in India's historic rival Pakistan including New Delhi's push to punish perpetrators of the bloody attacks on Mumbai.

He said India would also consult with the United States on Afghanistan, where the South Asian power -- to Pakistan's unease -- has played a growing role in reconstruction since US-led forces ousted the Taliban regime in 2001.

Faced with an insurgency, Obama has floated the idea of talks with moderate Taliban -- anathema to Bush and many in India.

Menon said that debate should center on individual Afghans who want to return to normal lives -- not on the Taliban as a whole.

"It's not a question of negotiating with the Taliban as an organization or bringing them in the democratic fold. They show no willingness to do so," Menon said.

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