Rubio’s new assistant for Central Asia appointed

Paul Kapur has officially assumed the position of Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs under Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The official swearing-in ceremony took place yesterday morning, October 23, the US Department of State reported.

According to the Department, Kapur previously served as a research fellow at the Hoover Institution, worked in the Department of State’s Policy Planning Staff, and taught at Claremont McKenna College.

Kapur is the author of ’’Dangerous deterrent: Nuclear weapons proliferation and conflict in South Asia’’, co-author of ’’India, Pakistan, and the bomb: Debating nuclear stability in South Asia’’, and co-editor of ’’Challenges to nuclear security: The United States and India perspectives.’’

His works have been published in leading academic journals and various scholarly collections. Kapur has also led the annual ’’Track 1.5’’ strategic dialogue between the United States and India, as well as US-India events commissioned by the Department of Defense.

Paul Kapur succeeds Donald Lu, who served in this position from September 2021 to January 2025. The Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs is responsible for US foreign policy and relations with Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan.

It is worth noting that earlier, members of the US Congress—Sydney Kamlager-Dove and Bill Huizenga—sent a letter to President Donald Trump, calling for a C5+1 summit in Washington to mark the 10th anniversary of the diplomatic forum. Established in 2015, the C5+1 forum serves as a multilateral platform for cooperation between the United States and the five Central Asian countries—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The United States has participated in its annual meetings since the forum’s inception.