President Donald Trump has nominated S. Paul Kapur, an expert on India-Pakistan security, to be Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs looking after diplomatic ties with India and the region.
If confirmed by the Senate, Kapur will be the second U.S. diplomat of Indian descent after Nisha Desai Biswal, who served as Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs under President Barack Obama from 2013 to 2017, to oversee U.S. relations with the region.
READ: Trump stages a triumphant return to power (January 20, 2025)
An expert in South Asian politics and security, international relations, Kapur is currently a professor in the Department of National Security Affairs at the United States Naval Postgraduate School. Kapur also directs a United States-India Track 1.5 strategic dialogue, as well as other U.S.-India engagements, for the Department of Defense.
He is also a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. From 2020-2021, Kapur served on the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, working on issues related to South and Central Asia, Indo-Pacific strategy, and U.S.-India relations.
Previously, he taught at Claremont McKenna College, and was a visiting professor at Stanford University. Kapur is author of Jihad as Grand Strategy: Islamist Militancy, National Security, and the Pakistani State; Dangerous Deterrent: Nuclear Weapons Proliferation and Conflict in South Asia; co-author of India, Pakistan, and the Bomb: Debating Nuclear Stability in South Asia; and co-editor of The Challenges of Nuclear Security: U.S. and Indian Perspectives.
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.
He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and his B.A. from Amherst College.
READ: Trump 2.0 highlights growing influence of Indian Americans (January 20, 2025)
At the core of Kapur’s approach is a belief that South Asia’s security dynamics are deeply interconnected—Pakistan’s militant strategies fuel instability, India’s responses shape deterrence, and nuclear weapons complicate crisis management.
His leadership at the State Department’s South Asia desk suggests a policy direction that will be critical of Pakistan, supportive of India, and mindful of the complexities that make regional stability so elusive, according to experts.