Clinton said US was also very interested in the role that India sees for itself in the immediate area like Sri Lanka and 'military and particularly naval implications of decisions that India is making going forward.'

Washington was also interested in the economic actions that India is taking and 'what are they going to do to keep generating growth, lifting people out of poverty', she said noting, 'they weathered the beginning of the recession better than many places.'

US special envoy for climate change Todd Stern will be accompanying her, Clinton said, to discuss issues relating to clean energy and climate change.

India and China have understandable questions about what role they should be expected to play in any kind of new global climate change regime, she said. But 'it is our hope that we can, through dialogue, come up with some win-win approaches.'

Clinton said she was excited about the trip and looked forward to her meetings with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna and others in India.

'So, I think that this is an extremely rich area. I've just touched the surface of it,' she said pledging that 'we're going to do everything we can to broaden and deepen our engagement.'

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)