Highlighting the importance of the strategic relationship India has established with the United States, External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh on Thursday said the two countries were now in a position to engage in a constructive and candid dialogue on major international issues.

Addressing a joint meeting of the Council of Foreign Relations and the Asia Society, he described Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's [Images] visit to Washington in July as a "defining moment" in Indo-US ties that have "opened doors previously closed to us".

• PM at the UN

Appreciating the role of the Indian community in the US in bringing the two countries closer, the minister said both shared common values and have converging interests "that makes us natural partners".

"Our ties have attained a high degree of maturity and the two countries are currently in a position to engage in a constructive and candid dialogue on major international issues," he said.

Referring to United Nations reforms and the G-4 initiative, Singh hoped there would be more widespread recognition of the need for expansion of the UN Security Council and an appreciation of the contributions that India could make in this context.