MUMBAI, Sept 24 (Reuters) - JPMorgan ( JPM ), the

largest bank in the U.S., is bullish on India and Japan within

Asia but is also keen to allocate resources towards Southeast

Asia, which is benefiting from the "China Plus One" strategy, a

top official at the bank said.

"India is still firmly in the top three, possibly top two in

Asia, together with Japan. Growth in India is actually very

broad-based," Sjoerd Leenart, JPMorgan's ( JPM ) Asia Pacific CEO, said

in an interview on Monday.

"We are investing on all fronts in India. We're adding

bankers, we're putting more capital into the business and we're

building capabilities such as technology investments to service

new segments of the market," he added.

JPMorgan ( JPM ) expects its commercial banking business, which is

focused on mid-sized companies, to grow as much as 30% in India

over the next few years, Leenart said.

India would need to further build its manufacturing

ecosystem and ensure scalability to gain from the "China Plus

One" strategy which has currently largely benefited the

Southeast Asian countries, he added.

China Plus One is a strategy that businesses are following

to diversify investment and supply chains from China into other

countries.

"In India this next leg will to an extent be about becoming

a manufacturing hub, creating blue collar jobs, and that's an

opportunity, but it's almost a necessity for India," Leenart

said.

"So if that strategy doesn't work, then India may not do as

well as people expect. That's probably the hardest to execute,"

he said, adding he still expected India could succeed.

On Japan, Leenart said with interest rates now positive,

clients have become interested again and from a corporate

activity and rates view, the country is full of opportunity.

JPMorgan's ( JPM ) business in China has been growing

significantly and Leenart said despite concerns about slow

economic growth there, the country cannot be ignored.

"We're actually very excited about what we have in China. We

have all the capabilities, and we're looking to maximize the

opportunity that we have with domestic clients and international

clients. It's been growing actually nicely."

JPMorgan ( JPM ) is looking to invest in Southeast Asia, where the

size of the combined economies is around $3 trillion, making it

almost as big as India, Leenart said.

"Obviously it is a little bit more difficult to navigate

because it's fragmented across five or six countries, but that's

a place where we are keen to invest."