WASHINGTON: Indian-American author and security expert Paul Kapur has been officially sworn in as the new Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs at the US Department of State.

His sworn in was announced by the Bureau in a social media post on late Wednesday night.

"Welcome to @State_SCA, Assistant Secretary Paul Kapur! This morning Dr. Kapur was officially sworn in as the Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs," it said.

As Assistant Secretary, Kapur will oversee America’s diplomatic engagement and strategic partnerships in India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

He succeeds Donald Lu, who served in the post since 2021.

Kapur was born in New Delhi to an Indian father and an American mother. He served as a professor in the Department of National Security Affairs at the US Naval Postgraduate School. He is a visiting fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution.

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 US-India relations.

He has authored a number of books on international security environment in South Asia and the Indo-Pacific, nuclear weapons proliferation, deterrence, and Islamist militancy.

In his book 'Jihad as Grand Strategy: Islamist Militancy, National Security, and the Pakistani State', Kapur argued that the utilisation of jihad by Pakistan was not a result of the country's instability, but it was an intentional government strategy.

Kapur earned his Bachelor's degree from Amherst College, and did his PhD at the University of Chicago.