Indian-origin Kamala Harris makes history as US vice-presidential candidate

Kamala Harris, 55, has scripted history by becoming the first Black and Indian descent individual to be nominated as a vice-presidential candidate of a major political party.

In her speech, Kamala Harris mixed her polish as a former prosecutor with deeply personal tales of her upbringing to argue that she and Joe Biden can rejuvenate a country ravaged by a pandemic and deeply divided by partisan bitterness.

Kamala Harris, who is half-Tamilian, also remembered her mother. She evoked the lessons of her late mother, Shyamala Gopalan, a biologist and Indian immigrant, saying she instilled in her a vision of “our nation as a beloved community — where all are welcome, no matter what we look like, where we come from, or who we love”.

The US vice-president pick has also urged Americans to "fight for the nation".