Harvard rules left Blackwill with little option

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Harvard rules left Blackwill with little option

S Rajagopalan Washington, April 22

US Ambassador Robert Blackwill would have had to be back at Harvard by August if he did not wish to say good-bye to his teaching job at the institution. Under Harvard's rigid rules, a faculty member can't be away for more than two years. Blackwill's leave of absence expires in July.

The Ambassador knew well that he had to make a choice soon enough between his high-profile but challenging New Delhi posting and the relatively laidback yet prestigious teaching assignment. The fact that he was not on best of terms with the State Department would appear to have made it easy for him to decide.

But an Indian American activist, who has maintained close contact with him, insists Blackwill decided to get back to Harvard for "very, very personal reasons". This, however, does not mean an end to his public life. Blackwill may well land in a bigger job in the next administration (if George W Bush is re-elected).

The State Department, which has rejected suggestions that Blackwill may have bowed out because of a policy rift, also emphasised that he would have to be back in Harvard by the fall season if he wanted to revert to his teaching career.

"He (Blackwill) explained his motivations in a statement released in New Delhi, discussed the wish to spend time with his family and return to teaching at Harvard," spokesman Richard Boucher said.

Department sources say it may be some time before the process of choosing Blackwill's successor is set in motion. "We have enough time for that," an official said, pointing out that the Ambassador will continue in New Delhi till about July end.

The mandarins of State Department are known to be keen to regain the key ambassadorial slot for a career diplomat after losing out to two successive political appointees -- Clinton nominee Richard Celeste and Bush nominee Blackwill.

Meanwhile, South Asia watchers here have heaped praise on Blackwill for succeeding in transforming Indo-US relations in line with the broad parameters set out by President Bush.

As Narayan D Keshavan of the Indian American Forum for Political Education put it: "I have been closely following the course of Indo-US relations for the past 25 years. In my view, nobody has accomplished so much as Ambassador Blackwill.