Washington: President Donald Trump's nominee for Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Paul Kapur has pledged cooperation with Pakistan in the domain of security, bilateral trade and investment.

Kapur, speaking during a confirmation hearing before US Senate, told the body that he would pursue security cooperation with Pakistan while exploring opportunities for bilateral trade and investment collaboration.

"If confirmed, I will continue to promote longstanding US security interests with Pakistan and India through the pursuit of peace and stability, and the fight against terrorism," said Trump's nominee who is a US scholar of Indian origin.

His remarks come against the backdrop of his strong support for deepening the strategic ties between India and the US as well as preventing Afghanistan from becoming a "terrorism launchpad".

"If confirmed, I'll support efforts to bring home detained Americans in Afghanistan and work to prevent the country from becoming a terrorism launchpad again," he once remarked.

Reflecting on the recent armed conflict between Pakistan and India, he has opined that South Asia narrowly escaped a serious conflict, where US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio 'intensely engaged' on the issue.

His remarks refer to the 87-hour-long conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours - which included cross-border strikes by both countries - in the aftermath of the Pahalgam incident where 26 tourists were killed in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir's (IIOJK) and India falsely blamed Pakistan for the attack.