The Senate Foreign Relations Committee yesterday approved the appointment of Daniel P. Moynihan, professor of Education and Urban Politics, as U.S. ambassador to India.

The approval virtually assures that Moynihan will gain Senate confirmation tomorrow when Senate members vote on several recent Presidential appointments, James Briggs, a spokesman at the State Department's India desk, said yesterday.

The State Department announced at its daily briefings yesterday that Moynihan has "no firm plans for departure," although John Hawes, another State Department spokesman, said that Moynihan plans to leave "very shortly."

Moynihan has not yet publicly responded to a speech in which Indira Ghandi, prime minister of India, reportedly criticized the American policy toward Vietnam.

Inconsistent Delhi Messages

State Department spokesman said yesterday that the speech is inconsistent with previous messages from New Delhi which have praised the ceasefire agreement and expressed a desire for improved relations with the United States.

Moynihan's hearing Monday before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was "friendly and amicable," Hawes said.

Moynihan introduced himself to Senator J. William Fulbright (D-Ark.), chairman of the Committee, as "one of the original Fulbright fellows," and told the Committee that U.S.-Indian relations are "much warmer, much better than they have been," the Boston Globe reported Tuesday.