The State Department said the decision would not affect relations between the Washington and New Delhi but made clear that it did not agree with India's position that a specific UN mandate was required for the force.

And officials said privately that they were not happy with the Indian decision which some believe may affect other countries as they consider whether to send troops to participate in the stabilization force.

"It is a decision that each country needs to make on its own depending on its interests and its concerns about the situation in Iraq," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.

"Certainly there (are) ample grounds in Resolution 1483 which encourages countries to participate in stabilization," he told reporters, referring to a document approved by UN Security Council after the war.

"We would have hoped that India would have made a different choice, that they would be there," Boucher said.

He declined to comment on whether that remark should be interpreted as "disappointment" or "regret" -- normal words for anger in diplomatic parlance -- but a senior department official said it fell short of both terms.

"It's a little less than disappointment, a little less than regret," the official said, adding quickly that Washington was being very careful with its language so as not to exacerbate any damage from India's refusal.

"I can't say we're particularly pleased with the decision," a second official said. "We think it was a mistake."

Boucher, repeating comments contained in a statement issued earlier Monday by the US embassy in New Delhi, insisted that the move would not harm broader ties between the countries.

"India remains an important strategic partner for the United States and the continuation of the transformation of Indo-US relations is something that is important to us and that we would expect to see," he said.

"I would expect us to continue to work with India as a matter of strategic partnership," Boucher added.

The decision, which ended Indian vacillation over a US request to send some 17,000 troops to join the stabilization force, was announced earlier Monday in New Delhi after two hours of deliberations by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's security cabinet.

Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha said the cabinet had agreed to help with reconstruction in Iraq but had suggested that Indian troops could only be deployed if the United Nations were to explicitly endorse a stabilization force.

Boucher dismissed that reasoning and took a subtle dig at India for not accepting the US premise that UN Security Council Resolution 1483 was enough.

"Many other countries have already made their decision in order to move forward and help stabilize Iraq," he said. "The UN Security Council has encouraged countries to do that and many countries have responded."

Boucher added that Secretary of State Colin Powell had spoken with outgoing US ambassador to India Robert Blackwill about the decision and that the envoy had relayed Washington's response to Indian officials.

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