 "S Paul Kapur was nominated by the Trump administration to the post in February. Image courtesy: X")
S Paul Kapur is now the United States’ Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs. Though the US government remains partially shut down, Kapur, who is of Indian origin, was confirmed by the US Senate in a 51 to 47 vote.
Kapur, 56, will now be US President Donald Trump’s point man in South and Central Asia. He will succeed Donald Lu, who was appointed by the previous Biden administration in September 2021. Kapur, the New Delhi-born author, is a fierce critic of Pakistan’s use of militants to wage a proxy war against India and its nuclear arsenal.
Kapur was nominated by the Trump administration to the post in February. The White House confirmed the development on social media, writing, “Paul Kapur, of California, as Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs.”
Who is Kapur?
S. Paul Kapur is an Indian-American academic, author and political scientist. He is a professor of national security affairs at the US Naval Postgraduate School in California’s Monterey. He also runs the US–India strategic dialogues for the Defence Department. Kapur is also a Visiting Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.
Kapur was born in New Delhi. His father is Indian and his mother an American. Kapur, during his confirmation hearing, said he was brought up in the United States, but he visited India often, ‘never imagining that my career would someday return me to the place where I was born’.
Kapur, who studied South Asia during his graduation, then did a Bachelor’s Degree from Amherst College and a PhD in political science and international relations from the University of Chicago. Kapur then worked at Claremont McKenna College and Stanford University. He also served in the US State Department’s policy planning division during the previous Trump administration.
Kapur will be in charge of the US State Department’s South Asia bureau. This critical office handles relations with Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan, and the five Central Asian republics.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsKapur is a scholar and an expert on international security and geopolitical dynamics. He has authored several works on nuclear deterrence, Islamist groups, the power and security dynamics in South Asia, and the relations between India, Pakistan, and the United States.
His works include:
Dangerous Deterrent: Nuclear Weapons Proliferation and Conflict in South Asia
Jihad as Grand Strategy: Islamist Militancy, National Security, and the Pakistani State
India, Pakistan, and the Bomb: Debating Nuclear Stability in South Asia (which he co-authored)
The Challenges of Nuclear Security: US and Indian Perspectives
Pakistan critic
Kapur is a noted Pakistan hawk. In his book Jihad as Grand Strategy, he took Pakistan to task for using Islamist militants to target India.
“Since the end of the British Raj and the founding of the Pakistani state in 1947, Pakistan has sought to promote its security interests through the use of Islamist militants. Today, militant proxies are one of the primary tools, along with conventional and nuclear forces, that Pakistan uses to produce security for itself. Jihad has become a central component of Pakistani grand strategy,” Kapur wrote.
Kapur argued that Pakistan’s use of militant proxies is not a sign of instability but a “deliberate state policy”—a cost-effective tool to challenge a conventionally superior India.
“Militant forces, by contrast, have served as Pakistan’s primary offensive tool. They have started conflicts in which conventional forces have subsequently participated, such as the 1947 and 1965 wars. In addition, Pakistan has used them to wage the Kashmir insurgency and shape the Afghan security environment largely unassisted,” Kapur wrote.
He has warned that this strategy has “outlived its utility”, creating a “serious risk of catastrophe” for Pakistan as militant groups become autonomous and turn on the state.
“LeT could undertake unauthorised provocations against India, perhaps on a scale similar to the 2008 assault on Mumbai. India might well blame these actions on the Pakistani government, even though Pakistani leaders did not countenance them. The Indians could consequently decide to respond by using military force against Pakistan, plunging the two countries into conflict,” he added.
Kapur has also slammed Pakistani leaders who believe their nuclear arsenal provides a “national-security trump card”, thus emboldening their risky reliance on militancy – saying they stood at a serious risk of catastrophe.
“Pakistani leaders believe that, with nuclear weapons, they hold a national-security trump card. Whatever else happens in Pakistan’s security competition with India or other states, nuclear weapons ensure that the Pakistanis will not suffer catastrophic defeat. This significantly reduces the Pakistanis’ incentives to abandon their militant strategy.”
Kapur in his book also noted how Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s actions gave rise to hardliners.
“Pakistan did not adopt its militant strategy during the Zia era; the Pakistanis had been using Islamist militants as strategic tools since achieving independence, long before Zia’s emergence. It is a deliberate, long-running policy as old as the Pakistani state. Indeed, supporting jihad has constituted nothing less than a central pillar of Pakistani grand strategy," Kapur wrote.
Recent criticisms of Pakistan
Kapur also slammed Pakistan in a 2023 piece for the Observer Research Foundation, saying it had been a “partial ally” in the war on terror.
“And despite apparent Pakistani crackdowns on terrorist organisations, including the arrest and imprisonment of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) chief Mufti Mohammed Hafez Saeed, other important terrorists, including senior LeT leaders, remained at large in Pakistan,” Kapur added.
Kapur publicly slammed the Biden administration’s decision to give Pakistan $450 million ( Rs 3.996 lakh crore) for its F-16s in 2022.
“But American leaders must abandon their decades-long dream of achieving strategic convergence between the US and Pakistan. Efforts to pursue it through measures such as expanded security assistance will not come to fruition. And they will damage the US’ real strategic interests in South Asia and the Indo-Pacific,” Kapur wrote.
However, Kapur is facing an uphill task.
He will have to strike a delicate balance while navigating Trump’s strikingly transactional and warm diplomatic approach with Islamabad in the region. Trump and his family’s commercial interests in Pakistan are set to play a significant role in the relationship between the two countries. Trump just last month hosted Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir at the White House.
Positive outlook on India
Kapur also seems to have a positive outlook on India. He has called for strengthening the US–India partnership and views New Delhi as an “essential US partner” – particularly in the context of countering China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific.
“The United States–India strategic partnership has a natural, seemingly inevitable quality about it. The need to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region, balance rising Chinese power, and enhance prosperity through trade and other economic cooperation creates incentives that are very strong,” Kapur wrote in a piece for the Hoover Institution.
Kapur during his Senate nomination hearing reiterated that the United States and India “share a host of common interests” such as ensuring a “free and open Indo-Pacific region”, improving trade and economic relations, strengthening cooperation in technology and innovation and guaranteeing reliable energy access to foster economic growth.
“If confirmed, I will work to further advance US–India relations and put our partnership on course to realise its tremendous promise,” Kapur said.
His appointment comes as tensions between New Delhi and Washington have flared over Trump’s tariffs. The two countries are also in talks for a trade deal.
Kapur during the Senate hearing said his focus will be on enhancing the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the regional states. His confirmation comes as China has sought to expand its influence in the region via the Belt and Road Initiative and the war between Russia and Ukraine. He has also written about the US’ need to diversify its energy sources.
Kapur has written for publications such as Observer Research Foundation, International Security, Security Studies, Washington Quarterly, RealClearPolicy, Asian Survey, The Wall Street Journal, and National Interest.
With inputs from agencies.