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As India celebrates Joe Biden’s running mate Kamala Harris, a question over China and regrets over Namaste Trump
- Kamala Harris is the first Asian-American to appear on a major presidential ticket and her heritage has given the Indian public cause to celebrate
- But policymakers are nervous that the Narendra Modi administration’s cosiness with Donald Trump may come back to haunt it
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A wave of excitement swept through India when US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden announced Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate on Wednesday.
Harris, a child of immigrant parents from Jamaica and India, is the first Asian-American and Black woman to appear on a major party’s presidential ticket.
But observers caution that despite her heritage, Harris has remained a tough critic of India’s domestic policies under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She has also spoken out over Beijing’s human rights practices and its treatment of Hong Kong.
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Harris’ family history has made her popular with the Indian public, with celebrities, industrialists and even politicians celebrating the announcement.
Her late mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was born in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu state, and studied in the United States for her master’s degree and PhD before becoming a breast cancer specialist. Gopalan married Donald Harris, a fellow doctorate of Jamaican origin who is a professor emeritus at Stanford University, and they had two children – Kamala, born in 1964, and her sister Maya.
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Who is Kamala Harris? Joe Biden’s vice-president pick
Who is Kamala Harris? Joe Biden’s vice-president pick
The VP nominee has often talked about her Indian family and has called her mother and her grandfather, PV Gopalan, two of the “most influential people in my life”. PV Gopalan was a freedom fighter who took part in India’s bid to overthrow British colonial rule.
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