The Indian foreign ministry had said Saturday that the US reward for its rival neighbour had "significant implications for India-US relations."

But Fernandes said Sunday that India's relationship with the United States "would not split because of any one issue."

"Strategic partnership and friendship does not revolve around one issue," Fernandes said on a visit to southern India, as quoted by the Press Trust of India news agency.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell announced Thursday that Pakistan would be designated a "major non-NATO ally," making it eligible for priority delivery of military supplies.

India, despite warming ties with the United States, does not have the same special status, which is also enjoyed by close US allies such as Israel and Japan.

Powell made the announcement in Islamabad just as Pakistani troops launched an attack on some 500 Islamic militants holed up near the rugged border with Afghanistan.

India said Powell gave no forewarning of the move during his visit to New Delhi two days earlier.

"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," the foreign ministry statement said.

The United States has tried to ease Indian concerns and said it hoped eventually to have a similar military relationship with India.

Pakistan was an ally of the United States during the Cold War, when India tilted to the Soviet Union.

Washington has moved increasingly close to New Delhi since the late 1990s but has had to balance the shift with its renewed alliance with Pakistan in the "war on terrorism."

WAR.WIRE