United States Ambassador to India Robert D Blackwill's sudden decision to quit and return to academics has taken Indian officials and analysts by surprise, even though they admit that they had reasons to be unhappy with him.

Though there were no immediate indications that Blackwill was forced to resign due to Indian pressure on the US administration, there was recent speculation that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had conveyed his displeasure with the ambassador to US President George Bush.

Blackwill's statement in a March 4 interview that America was 'satisfied' with India's stand on Iraq had enraged Delhi, with Communist leader Somnath Chatterjee describing it as a direct intervention in the internal affairs of the country.

But the press release issued by the US Embassy in Delhi says Blackwill had informed President Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell and others of his intention to resign in January, indicating that the criticism over his recent statement on Iraq did not influence his decision.

Delhi's power circles have been speculating on Blackwill's future ever since the boy-faced ambassador took charge in mid 2001.

In May 2002, there were media reports criticising his 'highhanded' demeanour and subsequent reports said he was quitting.

On one occasion, during a function at Rashtrapati Bhawan, Blackwill left before the national anthem was played and President Abdul Kalam was still present.

His roundtable discussions over dinner used to end up embarrassing some Indian academics as the ambassador was prone to snide remarks, snub or sneering at his guests.

The more charitable say Blackwill was impatient with mundane talk and could not tolerate rambling thoughts, and there is no shortage of either among Delhi's academicians and analysts.

His attitude came from the fact that he represented the world's most powerful nation in a country that is fumbling in a unipolar world, they argue.

Many, however, credit Blackwill for aggressively pushing Indo-US relations. He travelled across India to understand the country, met and addressed Indians from a cross-section of society.

Academics, parliamentarians, ruling party members, Non-resident Indians, film personalities, artists were regularly invited to Roosevelt House (the ambassador's residence).

The ambassador aggressively debated American interests. He pushed the Boeing deal with the civil aviation minister, military sales with the defence minister and took up the Dabhol case with every available political authority. He once compared American investments in India to a flat chapatti, lamenting the pace of economic reforms in the country.

On several occasions, he also aggressively pushed India's case. He was categorical in condemning violence in Kashmir and supporting India's stance. Pakistan never spared him for his unequivocal support to India.

He brought with him Ashley Tellis, an India-born American citizen known for his authority on Indian nuclear issues, as a special adviser. "His appointment signalled America's new found interest in India. Probably, the academic was not the best hand to handle complexities of India," says a Ministry of External Affairs official.

Blackwill says he'll return to the faculty at Harvard University's John F Kennedy School of Government "near the end of this summer to continue my academic career." He will follow his illustrious colleague John Kenneth Galbraith, who too returned to Harvard to teach and to write after managing the wild turns of the bilateral relationship.

"I have tried to justify his (Bush's) confidence by energetically promoting his vision of India as a rising great power of the 21st century," he said in his parting note.

An American embassy spokesman told rediff.com that the ambassador was "yet to decide" on a date of departure, but indicated that Blackwill would be here for a few more months.

But while observers, academics and the media continue to assess Blackwill's contributions to bilateral relations, the average Indian chasing El Dorado in the ultimate destination of migrants will remember him as the ambassador who shortened, really shortened, the queue outside most important office of their lives: the Visa office of American embassy and consulates around the country.

Despite the post 9/11 panic and suspicion of the South Asians, the south Indian city of Chennai figured last year for the first time among the top 12 visa issuing centres of America anywhere in the world.

Even London, the capital city of America's most trusted ally, doesn't figure on that list.