"There can be no question of India's firm and abiding commitment to non-alignment," Indian foreign ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said in a statement Saturday.

India's declaration came after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on New Delhi last Thursday to "move past old ways of thinking" and chart a global partnership with the United States.

Rice told the United States-India Business Council in Washington that non-alignment may have "made sense during the Cold War when the world really was divided into rival camps" but since then it "has lost its meaning."

The Times of India newspaper quoted on Saturday unnamed Indian government officials as saying the timing of Rice's comments was "particularly poor," as India and the United States are at a sensitive stage of discussions to clinch a landmark civilian nuclear technology deal.