Obama, Manmohan Singh may meet at G-20 summit

US President Barack Obama may meet Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh at the La Cabos G-20 summit in Mexico.

"I think he'll have a chance to see Prime Minister Singh on the margins of the G-20," Ben Rhodes, deputy national security advisor to the president for strategic communications, told reporters on Thursday while previewing the June 18-19 summit.

"In the context of leaders speaking, there is not a formal bilateral meeting planned," he said, while referring to the likelihood of an Obama-Singh meeting less than week after the India-US strategic dialogue in Washington.

Rhodes said the US would like to forge deeper strategic and economic ties with India.

"We want to see deeper strategic cooperation between our two countries, for instance, as we deal with the future security of South Asia and Afghanistan as the United States draws down there," said Rhodes

"We'd like to see deeper economic cooperation, including increased exports and commercial ties with India. And that's something that was discussed in recent days, and the President is personally very supportive of those efforts," he added.

President Obama made a telephone call to the Indian Prime Minister on Thursday, a day after the India-US strategic dialogue essentially to talk 'about coordinating efforts leading into the G20'.