Kamala's VP nomination is a proud moment for immigrants in America, says Obama-era official

Indian-origin Senator Kamala Harris' vice presidential bid as a Democratic Party candidate is a historic moment for immigrants in the US, according to a senior Indian-American diplomat in the previous Obama administration.

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden scripted history last week when he selected 55-year-old Harris, also an African-American, as his running mate in the presidential election on November 3.

“I couldn't be prouder of this moment and what it means for my daughters and for all of the children of immigrants across this country who ask themselves, where can they go?” said Nisha Desai Biswal, who served as the first Indian-American Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia in Barack Obama's second term as president.

Born to a Jamaican father and an Indian mother, California Senator Harris, if elected, would be the first woman vice president ever for the country.

“In America, they can do and be anything because of the example that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have set,” Biswal said.

Biswal, who is currently president of the US India Business Council (USIBC), made the comments when she was participating in a virtual event over the weekend on the Importance of US-India Relations and the Indian-American Community on the occasion of India's 74th Independence Day.

At the event, Seema Sadanandan, who has twenty years of experience as a civil rights advocate before joining the Biden for President campaign, laid out the Democratic Party's economic plan and the stakes in this election.

“We just have to decide as a community, what is it worth to us?” Sadanandan said, during the hour-long event co-hosted by Indian American Impact Fund (IMPACT), the AAPI Victory Fund, and South Asians for Biden campaigns.

“What is it worth to us to have schools for our children, to have preventative care, not just to get sick, but to be healthy, to have the systems in place to take care of our elders, to have clean air and water, to have freedom and democracy. What is it worth to us to build that future for our children? This is what we do to set the pathway for 10, 20, 30, 40 years. It's all happening right now. And it's a movement that we must win,” she said.

“Joe Biden and Kamala Harris embody the values we fight for -- a commitment to equality, justice, and progress," said Deepak Raj and Raj Goyle, co-founders of IMPACT.

“Kamala Harris has been a longstanding and committed ally of the IMPACT organisation, and we are delighted to see two leaders Indian Americans need to build the America we dream of, the land opportunity which drew so many of us here, and the hope for the future we want for our children and grandchildren," Raj and Goyle said in a joint statement.

“This is a historic opportunity to elect one of our own to be in the White House,” said Ramesh Viswanath Kapur in a statement.

He is president of the US India Security Council. He is also on the National Finance 2020 of the Biden Campaign.

As the influential Indian-American community decides on a presidential pair, the Biden campaign has released a fact sheet on the Indian-American community and on US-India relations. PTI LKJ IND AKJ IND