Who Is Paul Kapur? Indian-Origin Security Expert Appointed As Assistant Secretary Of State For South Asian Affairs

The US has appointed Paul Kapur as the new South Asia desk chief at the State Department, a move likely to raise concerns in Islamabad. Kapur, who will serve as the US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, is a well-known critic of Pakistan and its military policies. His appointment comes at a time when Pakistan had expected the Trump administration to tilt its policy in its favour amid trade tensions with India.

Kapur has repeatedly criticised Pakistan’s military and nuclear strategies. In his 2007 book, Dangerous Deterrent, he argued that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, developed as a counter to India, encourage aggressive and risky policies. He warned that Pakistan’s so-called “minimum credible deterrence” often hides offensive plans and enables military adventurism. He has described Pakistan’s first-use nuclear doctrine as provocative and a major threat to peace in South Asia.

Kapur has also accused Pakistan of using terrorist groups to challenge India’s territorial integrity. In a 2019 Congressional testimony, he said Pakistan’s military uses terrorist proxies and described its intelligence agency, ISI, as a “state within a state” supporting global jihadism. Writing for Foreign Affairs in 2021, Kapur called Pakistan a “nuclear-armed failing state” where military elites maintain instability, criticising US engagement as naïve. On podcasts in 2023-2024, he condemned Pakistan’s denial of militant attacks targeting India and suggested international isolation of the military to prevent further provocations.

Kapur has contrasted Pakistan’s nuclear approach with India’s restraint, calling Pakistan’s tactical nuclear weapons “escalatory wildcards.” He has frequently argued for restrictions on US technology exports to Pakistan and described Pakistan’s democracy as a sham controlled by the military. On social media, he links domestic unrest in Pakistan to its military-backed militant policies and criticises its “full-spectrum deterrence” doctrine as dangerous for the region.

An American academic born in New Delhi to an Indian father and American mother, Paul Kapur is a Professor of National Security Affairs at the US Naval Postgraduate School. He is also a Senior Fellow at the Center for a New American Security and a non-resident fellow at the Stimson Center. Kapur holds a PhD in Political Science and has written extensively on India’s nuclear strategy and Pakistan’s destabilising role in South Asia.

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