Born in Delhi, S Paul Kapur, whose father is Indian and mother American, said he visited India often as a child, became interested in studying it in graduate school, and further worked on the region as a scholar and government official.

While the next US Ambassador to India is yet to be named, Indian-American S Paul Kapur is President Donald Trump’s nominee for the position of Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, a top diplomatic position wherein he will oversee America’s intersections with India and its neighbourhood — including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

If confirmed, Kapur will step into the shoes of Donald Lu, who completed his term in January this year, holding charge of one of the most complex, sensitive, and volatile regions in the world. For the Indian establishment, though, which is continuously looking to expand and strengthen its ties with the US in critical areas such as defence, technology and science, and is on the cusp of signing a bilateral trade agreement, Kapur will become a key interlocutor. The US also banks on India to offset China’s dominance in the Indo-Pacific.

So it may be pertinent that on June 10, during his nomination hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Kapur began by touching upon his Indian roots and also laid out the India-US partnership agenda. “If confirmed, I will work to further advance US-India relations and put our partnership on course to realise its tremendous promise,” he said.

“The United States and India share a host of common interests: ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific region, which is not dominated by China; expanding bilateral trade, building our economic relationship so that it is more symmetrical and profitable; facilitating technology sharing and innovation; and ensuring access to the energy necessary to fuel our economies,” Kapur added

source/content: indianexpress.com (headline edited)