S. Paul Kapur

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S. Paul Kapur
S.-Paul-Kapur-Photo-2025.jpg
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs
Incumbent
Assumed office
October 22, 2025

Samir Paul Kapur [1] is an American scholar and professor. He is currently serving as the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs in the Second Trump administration. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Kapur was born in Delhi, India, to an Indian father and an American mother. Before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on 10 June 2025, he said he traveled to India frequently and developed an interest in researching it academically. [3] Kapur completed his Bachelor's degree at Amherst College, and did his PhD at the University of Chicago. [4] [5]

Career

Kapur is, as of 2025, a professor at the US Naval Postgraduate School (NPS). He is a visiting faculty member at the Hoover Institution. He has taught at Claremont McKenna College, the Naval War College and was also a visiting professor at Stanford University. [4] [5] At the NPS, he was the doctoral advisor for Quinn J. Rhodes, [6] and Charles C. Readinger. [7]

In 2025, he was nominated as the Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs by the Second Trump administration, succeeding Donald Lu. [8] He took up the position on 22 October of the same year. [9]

Views

Kapur, in his book Jihad as Grand Strategy, argued jihad was a major part of Pakistan's grand strategy, and not just one of the political instruments it used. He claimed the utilization of jihad by Pakistan was not a result of the country's instability, and instead said it was an intentional government strategy. [8]

Kapur said he would work on improving and strengtheing US–India relations according to US interests. He said India and the US shared many common objectives like an unrestricted Indo-Pacific not bound by Chinese hegemony, and also interests in trade, technology and energy. [3]

Works

References

  1. ↑ "Kapur, Paul Ethics Agreement Compliance Certification" (PDF). U.S. Office of Government Ethics.
  2. ↑ "S. Paul Kapur". U.S Department of State. Retrieved 22 October 2025.
  3. 1 2 Shrivastava 2025.
  4. 1 2 "S. Paul Kapur, Ph.D. - Department of National Security Affairs". Naval Postgraduate School. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
  5. 1 2 "S. Paul Kapur". Lowy Institute. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
  6. ↑ Rhodes, Quinn J. (June 2010). Limited War Under The Nuclear Umbrella: An Analysis Of India's Cold Start Doctrine And Its Implications For Stability On The Subcontinent (PhD thesis). Naval Postgraduate School. p. i.
  7. ↑ Readinger, Charles C. (March 2010). Taming The Frontier: The Myth Of Impossibility (PhD thesis). Naval Postgraduate School. p. i.
  8. 1 2 Chakraborty, Debdutta (15 February 2025). "Trump's South Asia bureau pick Paul Kapur is Pakistan critic, slammed Biden's India policy". ThePrint. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
  9. ↑ Sirat, Siyar (23 October 2025). "Paul Kapur appointed as new US assistant secretary for South and Central Asian affairs". Amu TV. Retrieved 25 October 2025.

Sources

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