WASHINGTON President Joe Biden's top official for the Indo-Pacific region said on Tuesday he hoped a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi "consecrates" the relationship with India as the most important for the U.S. in the world.

Kurt Campbell told the Hudson Institute think tank India was playing a "critical role" globally and not just a strategically.

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Michael Martina; Editing by Chris Reese)