Washington, July 9 - With just 'about 11 days or so' to go for her India visit, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has met top Congressional leaders to talk about where this 'very important relationship' and 'strategic partnership' is going.

Clinton met top Congressional leaders including heads of the Senate and House foreign relations panels, Senator John Kerry and Howard Berman, over breakfast Wednesday for an exchange of views before she goes out 'on this important trip', State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters.

In what he called a 'broad exchange', Clinton 'took the opportunity, of course, to highlight the growing strategic partnership that we have with India and our broad bilateral agenda'.

'We have a very important relationship with India. It's a strategic partnership,' Kelly said, noting that Clinton herself had said Tuesday 'that she's really looking forward to her trip'.

What she wanted to do was to give these senior Congressional leaders who deal with foreign affairs 'an idea of what our latest thinking is on where this relationship is going, and talk about her trip, and then, of course, get the benefit of their views as well before she goes out on this important trip.