US envoy congratulates Kamala Harris

US Ambassador to India Richard Verma on Wednesday extended special congratulations to Kamala Harris, the first Indian American elected to the US Senate.

"We offer special congratulations to Indian-American senator Kamala Harris, who was elected," Verma said.

Harris was elected from California to the Senate defeating fellow-Democrat Loretta Sanchez.

"I can tell you we have come a long way from when I was working in the House of Representatives as an intern in 1987, when you could count on one hand the people of South-Asian descent who were working in the Capitol Hill," said Verma, who is an American of Indian origin.

 

Harris, 52, who traces her family roots to Chennai, is a lawyer by profession and was twice elected Attorney General in 2010 and 2014.

Harris has a dual identity: She is also counted as an African American as her father is a Jamaican of African descent and she follows the Baptist faith.

On Wednesday, US elected Donald Trump as its 45th president.

--IANS

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