Paul Kapur nominated to be second Indian-descent top diplomat for India

"Paul Kapur, of California, to be Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs," said a statement from the office of Vice-President J.D. Vance, including a huge number of appointments that were sent for the US Senate's consideration and confirmation.

Washington: S. Paul Kapur, who worked previously on relations with India, has been nominated by the Trump administration to head the South Asia bureau at the State Department that conducts diplomatic ties with India and the region.

“Paul Kapur, of California, to be Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs,” said a statement from the office of Vice-President J.D. Vance, including a huge number of appointments that were sent for the US Senate’s consideration and confirmation.

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Kapur currently serves as a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, specialising in South Asian politics, and security, and international relations.

If confirmed, he will be the second Indian-descent top US diplomat for relations with South Asian countries, but unlike his predecessor in this category, he will head a smaller regional spread.

Nisha Biswal, the first Indian-descent Assistant Secretary of State, had headed a bureau that was called the South and Central Asia, which included many countries that are now out.

According to his bio on the Naval College website, from 2020 to 2021, Kapur served on the State Department’s policy planning staff, working on issues related to South and Central Asia, Indo-Pacific strategy, and US-India relations.

Before this assignment, Kapur taught at Claremont McKenna College, and was a visiting professor at Stanford University.

Books authored by him are Jihad as Grand Strategy: Islamist Militancy, National Security, and the Pakistani State; and Dangerous Deterrent: Nuclear Weapons Proliferation and Conflict in South Asia.

He has co-authored India, Pakistan, and the Bomb: Debating Nuclear Stability in South Asia; and co-edited The Challenges of Nuclear Security: US and Indian Perspectives.

The website further said about him that his work has appeared in leading academic journals such as International Security, Security Studies, Asian Survey, and Washington Quarterly; in outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, the National Interest, and RealClearPolicy; and in a wide variety of edited volumes.

Finally, the web resume said that Kapur directs a US-India Track 1.5 strategic dialogue, as well as other US-India engagements, for the Department of Defence.

He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and his B.A. from Amherst College.