Paul Kapur sworn in as Assistant Secretary for Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs Today World News

Paul Kapur was sworn in as the Assistant Secretary for Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs on Wednesday (October 22, 2025).

South and Central Asian Affairs welcomed him in an X post.

In January, the U.S. State Department confirmed the departure of Mr. Lu, Assis­tant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, as his term concluded on January 17, 2025.

Dr. Kapur is a professor in the Department of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School and a visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.

The Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs deals with U.S. foreign policy and U.S. relations with the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

From 2020-2021, Dr. 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.

He is also the 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’.

Dr. Kapur did his PhD at the University of Chicago. Dr. Kapur also directs a United States-India Track 1.5 strategic dialogue, as well as other U.S.-India engagements, for the Department of Defence.