Will Work Very Closely With Next Indian PM: U.S.

Harf said India-U.S. trade has grown to nearly$ 100 billion and "there is more room to keep growing" as "that helps not just India but also American businesses, American workers at home."

"So that is certainly one place we want to continue to work together. Another is on people-to-people ties. We have something like a 113,000 Indian students in the U.S. just this year which is second only to China. Certainly at the people- to-people level, we think there is great room to keep working together, again which benefits both of our countries," she said.

On a question about the issue of nuclear policy in BJP's election manifesto, Harf said the U.S. is "waiting to see the outcome of the election, see what the (Indian) government looks like and work with whoever it is and talk on the whole range of issues we always talk about and take issues as they come in.

"I don't want to get ahead of the process of the election," she added.

As India's multi-week national elections begin to wrap up and the results announced next week, Harf said the U.S. would congratulate the people of India on their "incredible national elections" where over 800 million eligible voters went to the polls "often in very remote and challenging conditions."

"It is pretty incredible," she said, adding Indians have a long history of having "really robust and great elections and this is the latest in a long line of them.