Armitage, who arrived in New Delhi late Tuesday, began his engagements by meeting Indian opposition leader Lal Krishna Advani followed by "substantive" talks with foreign secretary Shashank, who uses only one name, a diplomatic source said.

He was scheduled to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Foreign Minister Natwar Singh, after a lunch meeting with National Security Advisor J.N. Dixit.

The United States wants India to commit troops to Iraq now that a new transitional government has taken office in Baghdad.

In the past, New Delhi has been firmly against sending troops to Iraq without a clear UN mandate.

Peace talks between India and Pakistan and the situation in Afghanistan are also on the agenda, Indian officials said.

Armitage, on a 10-day tour of the Middle East, South and Central Asia, is the first senior official to visit New Delhi since a left-leaning government came into power after April-May elections.

Under the now-ousted Hindu nationalists, India, who was close to the erstwhile Soviet Union during the days of the Cold War, had developed warm relations with Washington.

Armitage's next stop is Pakistan where he would again hold talks with Pakistani leaders on the situation in Iraq, counter terrorism and relations between Pakistan and India, officials said.

Formal talks between Armitage and Pakistani Foreign Secretary Riaz Khokhar are scheduled for Thursday, officials said.

He was also due to meet with Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri and is expected to call on Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, they said.

Foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan has said Armitage's agenda here was wide-ranging and included the situation in Iraq after the handover of power to a transitional government in Baghdad.

Pakistan, which opposed the US-led occupation of Iraq, has resisted US pressure to send its troops to Iraq for peacekeeping mission.