apiVersion: release-notes/v2
kind: feature
area: installation
issue: [57600]
releaseNotes:
  - |
    **Removed** istioctl installation dependency between pilot and CNI. CNI installation is no longer dependent on pilot being installed first.
    If the istio-cni configuration exists pre-installation (which may be the case when using an istio-owned CNI config), pilot installation will
    not fail waiting for CNI readiness since the CNI installation is no longer a dependent on pilot.