Oct 10, Kathmandu - The US Senate has confirmed Paul Kapur as Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia.

Kapur is of Indian origin. He replaces Donald Lu.

The US State Department's Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs oversees foreign relations with Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

Paul Kapur was born in New Delhi. His father is Indian and his mother is American. He worked as a professor at the US Naval Postgraduate School. He is also a visiting fellow at Stanford University's Huber Institute. He is considered knowledgeable about the security, politics and foreign policy of South Asia.

He was previously involved in the policy planning of the US State Department under the Trump administration. He worked on the US Indo-Pacific strategy and US-India relations.

After Trump lost the 2020 election, he returned to teaching. After coming back to power, Trump nominated him to the position in February.

He received his undergraduate degree from Amherst College and his PhD from the University of Chicago.

Kapur is known as a harsh critic of Pakistan. In his articles and research, he has claimed that Pakistan is mobilizing jihadist groups in a planned and strategic manner.

His famous books include Dangerous Deterrent and Jihad as Grand Strategy.

Kapur has taken charge of this area at a time when Trump has recently been seen as close to Pakistan, especially its military leadership. Therefore, some have now assessed that the US will now distance itself from Pakistan.

Similarly, many speculate that US foreign policy in this area may be India-centric.