How important is India to US interests in Asia?

We all know that the US and China dislike each other but the latest talks between Obama and Hu Jintao have not gone well for the US. China does seem to offer fewer concessions because China owns $850 billion in US ets according to USA Today. This signals China's rise to power and US's decline of power. Since India is China's neighbor and is also a fast growing economy in the same region but rules in a democratic fashion similar to the United Kingdom's government, what will India's new role be as the 21st century progresses?