Daniel P. Moynihan, professor of Government and outgoing ambassador to India, told reporters yesterday in New Delhi that he will leave for Cambridge in about three weeks.

Attorney General William Saxbe was nominated last week by President Ford to succeed Moynihan next month.

Will Teach in Spring

Moynihan. whose two-year leave of absence from the Government Department expires at the end of this term, is scheduled to teach several undergraduate and graduate courses in the spring.

In addition, Moynihan has said he plans to work on a series of books on ethnicity with Nathan Glazer, professor of Education and Social Structure. Glazer and Moynihan co-authored "Beyond the Melting Pot" in 1963 and a number of articles in social science journals since then.

Former President Richard M. Nixon asked Moynihan to serve as Indian ambassador in December 1972. Moynihan had previously served as a domestic adviser to Nixon.

Relations Were Strained

When Moynihan took over as ambassador 21 months ago, relations between the United States and India were becoming more strained. Many State Department officials and academicians now credit Moynihan for doing much in his tenure to help ease the situation.

Moynihan said last year when he visited Cambridge that the 1973 of India's escalating food debt with the U.S. was a very important step in easing friction between New Delhi and Washington.

Earlier this year Moynihan sent a controversial cable to Secretary of State Henry A. Kissinger '50 expressing concern that the Ford administration's admission that the CIA was involved in the 1973 overthrow of President Salvador Gossens Allende in Chile might adversely affect U.S. relations with India.

Moynihan told Kissinger that the Indians were apprehensive about possible CIA involvement in India and other areas of South Asia.

The 47-year old Democrat now has served four presidents for a total of 13 years in government service.