India on Saturday voiced 'disappointment' over United States Secretary of State Colin Powell not sharing with it the decision to designate Pakistan as a major non-NATO ally while here earlier this week and said the move has 'significant implications' for India-US relations.

"The Secretary of State was in India just two days before this statement was made in Islamabad. While 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," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said.

This is New Delhi's first reaction to Powell's statement in Islamabad on March 18 that US would designate Pakistan as a major non-NATO ally for the purposes of military-to-military relations.

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

Soon after Powell's announcement, Robert Blake, deputy to US Ambassador David C Mulford, went to South Block on Thursday and met senior External Affairs Ministry officials, U S Embassy sources said.

Blake is believed to have told the officials that Washington considered India as its strategic partner and was committed to further cementing Indo-US ties.