Indian-American security expert Paul Kapur was officially sworn in as the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs on Wednesday, marking a key appointment under the Trump administration.The Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs announced the news on social media platform X: “Welcome to @State_SCA, Assistant Secretary Paul Kapur! This morning Dr. Kapur was officially sworn in as the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs.”Kapur succeeds Donald Lu, who held the position from September 2021 through January 2025. As Assistant Secretary, Kapur will oversee US diplomatic engagement and strategic partnerships in countries including India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The bureau plays a crucial role in shaping US policy on security, economic engagement, counterterrorism, and infrastructure development across the region.
Paul Kapur and his stance on Pakistan
The 52-year-old Kapur was born in New Delhi to an Indian father and an American mother. “I can’t avoid the feeling of having come full circle. I was born in New Delhi, to an Indian father and an American mother. Although I visited India often during my childhood, I grew up in the United States as a thoroughly American kid, never imagining that my career would someday return me to the place where I was born,” he said during his Senate confirmation hearing in June.He previously served from 2020 to 2021 on the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, focusing on South and Central Asia, Indo-Pacific strategy, and India-US relations. Kapur has also led the India-US Track 1.5 dialogue and other strategic defence engagements between the two countries. Kapur earned a Bachelor’s degree from Amherst College and a PhD from the University of Chicago.A professor in the Department of National Security Affairs at the US Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, Kapur is also a visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. He has authored multiple books on South Asia and the Indo-Pacific, covering topics such as nuclear weapons proliferation, Islamist militancy, deterrence, and regional security. In his book Jihad as Grand Strategy: Islamist Militancy, National Security, and the Pakistani State, he argued that Pakistan’s use of jihad was a deliberate government strategy rather than a product of instability.On Pakistan, Kapur added that he would “pursue security cooperation where beneficial to US interests.”During his confirmation hearing, Kapur outlined his approach to India-US relations. “The United States and India share a host of common interests: ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific region, which is not dominated by China; expanding bilateral trade, building our economic relationship so that it is more symmetrical and profitable; facilitating technology sharing and innovation; and ensuring access to the energy necessary to fuel our economies,” he said.In early October, Kapur was confirmed by a Senate vote alongside Sergio Gor, the new US Ambassador to India.
