NEW DELHI, March 20: India on Saturday expressed disappointment with US Secretary of State Colin Powell, claiming that he kept New Delhi in the dark about Washington's decision to make Pakistan a major non-Nato ally.

Indian opposition parties were, however, claiming that New Delhi's strange reaction masked more than it revealed.

Noting that Mr Powell was in New Delhi for two days before he made his Nato remarks in Islamabad on Thursday, a foreign ministry spokesman said: "While he was in India, there was much emphasis on India-US strategic partnership. It is disappointing that he did not share with us this decision of the United States government.

"We are studying the details of this decision, which has significant implications for India-US relations. We are in touch with the US government in this regard," the spokesman said.

A former foreign secretary and the deputy chief of the Congress party's foreign affairs cell, Mani Dixit said the US decision was known all along and it could not have come as a surprise to New Delhi.

"The United States has now given Pakistan the same status as Israel and Japan," Mr Dixit said. "But this was part of a long-standing decision to widen the sphere of Nato. For India, it has implications because the new status gives Pakistan a shield against future Indian militarily postures. But the Indian government should have known this was coming."

The fact that the Indian spokesman did not take questions on the issue might indicate the government wants to buy time to pre-empt further embarrassment in an election year.

But analysts said it was clear from the Asian Age interview of the US envoy to Nato in January that not only Pakistan but India too was being roped in for a future role in Nato.

Nicholas Burns, the US ambassador to Nato, had even identified a role for both Pakistan and India, suggesting that Afghanistan would be the first laboratory of Nato's new, UN-mandated intentions.

"The American goal would be that at some point in the next year or two Nato would essentially unite all of the different military activities under way in Afghanistan under one command to make it more efficient," Mr Burns had said.

Mr Dixit, a former Indian ambassador to Islamabad, said that the extension of the new status to Pakistan might have been prompted by three considerations. According to Mr Dixit, the new status reinforces Pakistan's role assigned to it as the bulwark in the war on terrorism. It also reassures the Pakistani army that it will not be discarded after its use was over. It is also a personal affirmation of support for President Gen Pervez Musharraf.

AFP adds: A spokesman for the US embassy in New Delhi gave a one-line statement on Saturday that said: "The US-India strategic relationship was the central focus of Secretary Powell's visit to New Delhi ... and continues to be the top priority".