ISLAMABAD, Oct 7, 2008 (AFP) - Just a month after coming to power, President Asif Ali Zardari risks losing the support of Pakistan's powerful military establishment with a string of foreign policy gaffes, analysts and sources say.

From saying that nuclear archfoe India has 'never been a threat' to reportedly admitting a deal on US missile strikes against militants, analysts say the new civilian leader's comments will cause concern in the army.

As the widower of revered former premier Benazir Bhutto, Zardari also raised eyebrows in this conservative Islamic nation when he called Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin 'gorgeous' in a recent meeting.

But experts said it was the reference to nuclear-armed India in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that would most alarm the generals -- who have been suspicious of Zardari since his wife's graft-tainted governments in the 1990s.

Without the full backing of the military, Zardari will find it difficult to tackle Pakistan's problems, ranging from a nose-diving economy to an increasingly bloody fight against Al-Qaeda and Taliban extremists.

'There will be many who will question, not only amongst the military but also among the security set-up, the validity of Mr Zardari's statement on India,' security analyst Riffat Hussain, of Islamabad's National Defence University, told AFP.

For its part, India welcomed Zardari's comments in the Wall Street Journal, which included describing Islamic militants in the divided Himalayan territory of Kashmir as 'terrorists', while aides defended them strongly.

Pakistan and India launched a drawn-out peace process in 2004.

'He was absolutely right,' Farhatullah Babar, a spokesman for Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, told AFP.

'We have all along maintained that Pakistan supports morally, diplomatically and politically the indigenous struggle of Kashmiri people for their right to self-determination, however we also say that that those who have gone from outside are militants,' he said.

But after three major wars and six decades of hostility over Kashmir, analysts and security sources said Zardari underestimated the extent to which India remains the number one obsession for the Pakistani military.

Pakistan's shadowy Inter-Services Intelligence backed the 1996-2001 Taliban regime in Afghanistan and, allegedly, insurgents in Indian-controlled Kashmir mainly to achieve 'strategic depth' against its bigger neighbour, they said.

Despite joining the US-led 'war on terror' in 2001 under former president Pervez Musharraf, who resigned to avoid impeachment in August, the Pakistani military has always had its eyes on the east, they added.

A senior Pakistani security source said that Zardari's words 'are not going to help the president improve his credentials with the armed forces in Pakistan, or indeed in a large part of the population.'

'The entire structure of the army has one focus -- to protect itself from India. It is the basic tenet of the army,' the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The source said he believed Zardari's comments were 'off the cuff and without any serious intent' -- but added that that in itself did not inspire confidence after his recent public missteps.

Zardari came under fire from some Pakistani newspaper commentators and religious hardliners for his admiring quip to Palin in New York last month -- after which he added that he might 'hug' her if photographers asked.

Meanwhile the timing of Zardari's India remarks was unfortunate given the growing chatter in Pakistani intelligence circles about allegations of Indian involvement in the militancy-hit tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

'The statement will evoke lot of concerns, because part of the reason why efforts to stabilise Pakistan-Afghanistan border is not succeeding is because of the perceived Indian involvement in helping anti-state groups,' analyst Hussain said.

The fight against militants on the border caused further problems for Zardari, with Pakistan's information minister stepping in on Monday to deny the Wall Street Journal's report that he had said there was an 'understanding' with Washington to permit US air strikes in Pakistani soil.

However political analyst Hasan Askari said he believed the general tenor of Zardari's comments since he was elected as president on September 5 indicated a shift in Islamabad's policies.

'At the lower level (his statements) may cause jitters among the army, but at the senior level their major concern is how to deal with the security threat rather than India-Pakistan problem,' he said.