Kamala Harris as vice presidential candidate not likely to change Indo-US relations

NEW DELHI, Aug 17, 2020, VOSA. The first American of Indian origin to be featured on a major US national ticket as a vice presidential candidate will not change US-Indian relations if Democrats take the White House, according to experts, VOSA reported.

Kamala Harris, whose mother was Indian, and was born and raised in the US, was named as the running mate to presumptive US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

The decision delighted those in India and experts see her nomination as important.

“The Indian American community feels being represented,” Sylvia Mishra, a Washington-based researcher and expert on India and US relations told Anadolu Agency. “Kamala Harris’s nomination is particularly important because it is for the first time a woman of color, the first-ever Black woman and the first ever woman of Indian descent has been nominated for one of the highest national offices in the country.”

She said her Indian origin will remain significant in US domestic politics. “Harris is likely to pursue progressive policies on immigration (H1-B visas). However, her Indian origins will unlikely have any major impact on how the US or (if elected) the Biden-Harris administration will deal with India broadly on thorny issues like trade and [Intellectual Property Rights] issues,” she said.