The surprise retirement of Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns, who played a seminal role in finalising the Indo-US civil nuclear deal, will take "some of the focus away" from the accord but his continuation as special envoy will help in its early conclusion, experts said.
"The encouraging thing is that Nick Burns is not leaving that portfolio. He will continue to be an envoy on his issue. That is very important and I think he can bring it to a successful conclusion as soon as possible," Former assistant secretary for South Asian Affairs Karl Inderfurth told PTI.
Analysts said that while Burns impending departure may have come as a surprise in some quarters, the practice of senior officials leaving their high profile jobs in the last year of administration to seek greener pastures in the private sector is nothing new.
"He (Burns) was of course the major advocate within the administration and his leaving had nothing to do with the trouble the accord faced on the Indian side," said Walter Andersen, the acting director of South Asia Studies at the Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University.
"That having been said, because he (Burns) was the major intellectual advocate of it, his not being there lends to take some of the focus away from it than otherwise would be," he said.
The decision by 51-year-old Burns was announced by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on January 18.
Though Burns will resign in March, officials said he had been asked to continue handling the deal.
However, with the deal facing opposition from the Left parties, both Inderfurth and Anderson said that the ball was now in India's court.
The civilian nuclear deal "is still up in the air. I think the US government is committed to it, but I think it will also take full commitment of the Indian government, all of the parties involved," Inderfurth, who is now at the Elliott School of International Affairs of The George Washington University said.
"While they work that out the US government should allow that process to play out, but at the same time the talks with the International Atomic Energey Agency and the efforts with the Nuclear Suppliers Group, those things will go forward," he said.
"Hopefully it will all come together in a way that I think will be a big plus and a win-win for United States and India to see this thing concluded," the former Clinton administration official added.
Andersen, who was until recently was a senior official at the State Department in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research and a known India hand, said while Rice "is in favour of the deal", she may not have the time to focus on it.
"I can't think of any other second tier person who is as focussed as Burns was. That may have some effect. If there is any kind of trouble that comes up regarding the passage of the civilian nuclear deal," Andersen maintained, adding "at this time all depends on the Indian side. The ball is really in the court of India."
A senior Indian official said that Burns had played a "seminal role" from the American side in realising the civilian nuclear cooperation initiative between India and the United States.
"This initiative which meets the interests of both countries has a compelling logic to it from the perspective of energy security and the environment," the official added.
"We are confident that this process which began in July 2005 with the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will reach fruition," the official said.
The Indian-American community, especially those who played a pivotal role in the passage of the Henry J Hyde Act of 2006, said they were eagerly awaiting the implementation of deal despite Burns' decision to quit.
"Following the traditions of the past, many senior advisors have and will leave the administration for private lives particularly in the later part of an administration. We should not be surprised that Nicholas Burns who played a pivot role for strategic partnership between US and India, is the latest of almost 20 top diplomats to depart over the past year," Ashok Mago, the chairman of the Dallas based US- India Forum said.
"But because of its importance and since he was the lead negotiator, Burns will remain special envoy for the US-India nuke deal which many of us are eagerly awaiting to be concluded," he added.
The Bush administration has announced that its current envoy in Russia William Burns will be nominated for the top state department job.
And from the administration point of view, it would have to get ready for the nomination hearings in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for Burns' successor, a task that is not going to be easy.
