Washington: Nicholas Burns, a key US policymaker on Iran and India and the number three US diplomat, has decided to retire for personal reasons, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Friday.

Rice is expected to recommend US ambassador to Russia William Burns to replace him as under secretary of state for political affairs, said a US official, who asked not to be named. "This is a very bittersweet time for us because Nick Burns had decided that it is time for him to retire," Rice told reporters.

Burns, 51, has also been the lead negotiator on a Indo-US civil nuclear deal that would give India access to US nuclear fuel and equipment for the first time in three decades.

A career diplomat and a former Spokesman of the State Department, Burns was was a forceful administration voice for the deal both at the time of the passage of the Henry Hyde Act of 2006 as also while hammering out the crucial 123 Agreement with India last year.

In stressing the criticality of the civilian nuclear initiative between the United States and India, Burns was a consistent senior administration official calling to look at the larger aspects of the bilateral relationship.

"As we Americans consider our future role in the world, the rise of a democratic and increasingly powerful India represents a singularly positive opportunity to advance our global interests."

"There is a tremendous strategic upside to our growing engagement with India. That is why building a close US-India partnership should be one of the United States highest priorities for the future. It is a unique opportunity with real promise for the global balance of power," Burns recently wrote in Foreign Affairs.

Burns joined the foreign service in 1983 and worked at posts in the Middle East and Africa before taking over the Russia portfolio at the National Security Council in the waning years of the Cold War, during the administration of President George H W Bush.

Source : PTI