New Delhi - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday called Barack Obama an inspiration as he congratulated the senator for winning the US presidential election.

"Your extraordinary journey to the White House will inspire people not only in your country but also around the world," Singh said.

He said India and the US, working together to address global issues and challenges, would be an important factor for world peace, stability and progress and invited Obama to visit India soon.

Leaders of India's ruling Congress Party and the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said Wednesday that they believed Obama's election would further improve bilateral relations with India.

"We look forward to an illustrious tenure for Obama and hope that he will fulfil his promise of warm relations with India," BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said.

Congress Party spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said in the long-term that India-US relations could only improve under a forward-looking progressive president.

"He has travelled widely, lived in Asia," Singhvi said. "Senator Obama has a dynamic, forward-looking, progressive mindset, which in the long run can only be good for India and the rest of the world."

However, with the US Democratic Party's known non-proliferation stand and Obama's pre-election comments on Kashmir and on outsourcing business, there was some apprehension among Indian officials and analysts that there might be an adverse impact on bilateral relations in the short-term compared with the major strides made during President George W Bush's presidency when India and the United States negotiated a civilian nuclear deal.

"There is evidently bipartisan support in the US for stronger ties with India," Chinatamani Mahapatra, professor of American studies at the Delhi-based Jawaharlal Nehru University said. "With a Democrat president in office, now we will find out."

Mahapatra cautioned that the issues of Kashmir, nuclear non-proliferation and outsourcing could pose problems for India under a Democratic president.

But, he added, Indians should also celebrate the new chapter in American history that had opened with Obama's election as the first non-white president of the United States.

A large section of the Indian-American community also supported Obama. His victory was a sign for them that the American dream of anything is possible still lives.

"It signals the opening of opportunity for people such as Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal," an Indian American, said Delhi resident Satish Shah, who joined friends at a cafe in the wee hours of the morning to watch the US election results on a big screen.

Large numbers of Indians attended similar election watches, including some hosted by the American Centre. Indian television channels were airing little else since late Tuesday.

There was a sense of watching a historic moment for both the US and the world, Shah said.

The concession speech by Obama rival John McCain was "moving," he said, while Obama's was inspiring.

"It was exhilarating," he said. "Americans have finally opted for change and for someone with a mature, less blinkered world view." (dpa)