Washington: Indian-American safety knowledgeable Paul Kapur formally assumed workplace as assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs on Wednesday. The Bureau confirmed the appointment on X (previously Twitter), “Welcome to @State_SCA, Assistant Secretary Paul Kapur! This morning Dr. Kapur was formally sworn in because the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs.”
He succeeds Donald Lu, who served from September 2021 to January 2025.
Kapur will oversee US diplomacy, strategic partnerships and regional engagement throughout India, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. His obligations embody safety, financial cooperation, counterterrorism and infrastructure growth.
The 52-year-old Kapur was born in New Delhi to an Indian father and an American mom. He mirrored on his roots throughout his Senate affirmation listening to in June.
“I am unable to keep away from the sensation of getting come full circle. I used to be born in New Delhi to an Indian father and an American mom. Though I visited India usually throughout my childhood, I grew up in america as a totally American child, by no means imagining that my profession would sometime return me to the place the place I used to be born,” he mentioned.
Kapur served from 2020 to 2021 on the State Division’s Coverage Planning Employees, focussing on South and Central Asia, Indo-Pacific technique and India-US relations. He led the India-US Monitor 1.5 dialogue and different strategic protection engagements. He earned a Bachelor’s diploma from Amherst Faculty and a PhD from the College of Chicago.
He’s a professor within the Division of Nationwide Safety Affairs on the US Naval Postgraduate College in Monterey, California. He’s additionally a visiting fellow at Stanford College’s Hoover Establishment.
Kapur has authored a number of books on South Asia and the Indo-Pacific. His works cowl nuclear proliferation, Islamist militancy, deterrence and regional safety. In ‘Jihad as Grand Technique: Islamist Militancy, Nationwide Safety and the Pakistani State’, he argued that Pakistan’s use of jihad is a deliberate authorities technique quite than a product of instability.
On Pakistan, he mentioned he would “pursue safety cooperation the place helpful to US pursuits”.
Throughout his affirmation listening to, Kapur outlined his strategy to India-US relations. “America and India share a number of frequent pursuits: making certain a free and open Indo-Pacific area, which isn’t dominated by China; increasing bilateral commerce, constructing our financial relationship in order that it’s extra symmetrical and worthwhile; facilitating expertise sharing and innovation; and making certain entry to the vitality essential to gas our economies,” he mentioned.
In early October, Kapur was confirmed by the Senate together with Sergio Gor, the brand new US ambassador to India.