Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United States President Barack Obama will hold talks for the first time during the G20 Summit to be held in London in early April, reported India's wire service on Thursday.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs Wednesday in Washington said Obama would meet Singh on April 2, the second day of the summit, said the wire service reports.

The semi-official Press Trust of India news agency quoted Benjamin Chang, deputy spokesman of the White House, as saying Obama looked forward to working with the Singh to advance and strengthen the US-India bilateral relationship.

The two leaders are expected to discuss "a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues, including the Afghanistan-Pakistan strategic review, climate change, and the world economy," the news agency quoted Chang as saying.

The private Indo-Asian News Service said the Obama administration officials have signaled a desire "to forge a stronger, more comprehensive relationship" with India.

(Xinhua News Agency March 26, 2009)