Washington, December 22, 2005, Sridhar Krishnaswami (PTI)

The United States has said that it was optimistic of a "bright" future for its relationship with India and it looked forward to taking the engagement to the next level.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who met visiting Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, was "quite optimistic about a bright future for the United States-India relationship and Washington is looking forward to working with India closely to take the relationship to the next steps," State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said here, quoting her.

The Spokesman said that the focus of the nearly 20-minute meeting between the Saran and Rice was the forthcoming visit of US President George W Bush to India.

"It was a very general discussion. They talked about the planning for the President's upcoming trip to India. I think that was the focus of their discussions... There's the hope and desire on both sides that the President's trip be a historic trip that really signifies a changed relationship between the US and India that we have been working..On for the past several years," McCormack said.

Saran, who is here for talks, especially on the Indo-US nuclear deal, will also be meeting with officials of the Departments of Energy and Defence and the National Security Council.

"I would expect that the more detailed discussions about the trip, issues like the civil nuclear issues as well as other issues that would be part of the trip, get taken care of at the Under Secretary as well as lower levels in terms of the working level," McCormack said.