By Arun Kumar

Washington, Oct 7 (IANS) As India assumes a more global leadership role, the United States is "very bullish" on India, says Secretary of State Hillary Clinton describing President Barack Obama's upcoming visit as "yet another very clear statement" of US support.

The US relationship "is going from strength to strength" she said at the 12th annual Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit here Wednesday when asked by HSBC India chief Naina Kidwai about her expectations of Obama's India visit in early November.

She expected "more warmth and more intellect," quipped Clinton amid laughter as Kidwai recalled that former president Bill Clinton and she herself had led the relationship with India "with a lot of warmth and intellect."

"Look, I think our relationship with India, which I was very pleased to open up in the '90s and then followed by the work of my husband and his visit and then the follow-on work by the Bush Administration on the civil nuclear agreement, is going from strength to strength."

"We are now implementing a very comprehensive Strategic Dialogue between us," Clinton said.

"And by that, I mean it's not just the visits and the meetings at high levels between the President and myself and our counterparts, but really getting into our respective bureaucracies, which, as you know in both of our countries, pose problems to actually getting things done."

Clinton said the US was also "looking for ways to network our business communities, our academic institutions, our NGOs - we are very bullish on India."

"We think that India's growth rates and India's commitment to lifting people out of poverty and doing the necessary economic reforms is essential for further development for India," she said.

"And at the same time, India is assuming more of a regional leadership role and a global leadership role, which we welcome and encourage," Clinton noted.

"So the President's visit in November will be yet another very clear statement of our support and our commitment to the relationship," she said.