Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

India hails Kamala Harris as history-making VP-elect

Residents set off firecrackers in the ancestral home of Kamala Harris on Sunday as India celebrated the vice president-elect's victory in the US election, as others hailed her achievement as historic and a "proud moment" for the country.

Harris -- daughter of breast cancer specialist Shyamala Gopalan from the southern Indian city of Chennai -- paid tribute to her late mother, who "believed so deeply in an America where a moment like this is possible" in a national address with president-elect Joe Biden on Saturday.


At Thulasendrapuram village in Tamil Nadu state, once home to Harris' maternal grandfather P.V. Gopalan, celebrations broke out with locals lighting firecrackers, praying at its main temple and waving posters bearing the 56-year-old's face.

Women in the village made a rangoli -- a colourful work of folk art drawn on the ground -- with the words: "Congratulations to Kamala Harris."

"It is a matter of pride for the entire womenfolk," housewife Arul Mozhi Sudhakar told AFP.

Harris's uncle, academic Balachandran Gopalan, said he always knew she would be successful.

"I am relieved, because I knew she's going to win, and I told her yesterday... my tension is now gone away," he told WION TV in the capital New Delhi.

Gopalan told AFP on Friday that Harris' family in India would fly to the United States to attend her inauguration.

"We were together as a family when she was sworn in as senator. And we will all be together now during her swearing-in as vice president of the US. It's a big moment for us," he said.

In Delhi, people cheered the Harris family's Indian origins. Yash Iyer, 25, told AFP "it's a proud moment for us too as Indians since she traces her roots here".

"Kamala Harris being the US VP is a monumental accomplishment not only for the US and Indians but for women across the globe," Smitashree Mishra, who works in international health and development in the capital, told AFP.

"What I take away from this victory is a ray of hope, hope to stand strong in a society that constantly judges you on archaic notions of gender, race and ethnicity... I am proud as a woman to see another woman represent our perspective in the politics of the world's most powerful country."

Early Sunday, prime minister Narendra Modi congratulated Biden on his White House victory and called Harris a source of "immense pride".

"Your success is pathbreaking, and a matter of immense pride not just for your chittis, but also for all Indian-Americans," Modi wrote.

"Chitti" is a Tamil term of endearment for the younger sisters of one's mother, which Harris used in her acceptance of the Democratic nomination for vice president.

Senior opposition Congress party figure Rahul Gandhi added on Twitter: "It makes us proud that the first woman to serve as vice president of the USA traces her roots to India."

Sunday newspapers hailed the Democrats' victory with front-page photos and stories featuring the pair.

Harris "creates history" as the first vice president-elect of Indian descent, The Sunday Express said along with the headline: "Finally."

More For You

F-35B jet

The UK has agreed to move the aircraft to the Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) facility at the airport.

Indian Air Force

F-35B jet still stranded in Kerala, UK sends engineers for repair

UK AVIATION engineers are arriving in Thiruvananthapuram to carry out repairs on an F-35B Lightning jet belonging to the Royal Navy, which has remained grounded after an emergency landing 12 days ago.

The jet is part of the HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group of the UK's Royal Navy. It made the emergency landing at Thiruvananthapuram airport on June 14. The aircraft, valued at over USD 110 million, is among the most advanced fighter jets in the world.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ahmedabad air crash
Relatives carry the coffin of a victim, who was killed in the Air India Flight 171 crash, during a funeral ceremony in Ahmedabad on June 15, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)

Ahmedabad crash: Grief, denial and trauma haunt families

TWO weeks after the crash of Air India flight AI-171 in Ahmedabad, families of victims are grappling with grief and trauma. Psychiatrists are now working closely with many who continue to oscillate between denial and despair.

The crash occurred on June 12, when the London-bound flight hit the BJ Medical College complex shortly after takeoff, killing 241 people on board and 29 on the ground. Only one passenger survived.

Keep ReadingShow less
Starmer apologises for 'island of strangers' immigration speech

Prime minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech at The British Chambers of Commerce Global Annual Conference in London on June 26, 2025. (Photo by EDDIE MULHOLLAND/AFP via Getty Images)

Starmer apologises for 'island of strangers' immigration speech

PRIME MINISTER Sir Keir Starmer has admitted he was wrong to warn that Britain could become an "island of strangers" due to high immigration, saying he "deeply" regrets the controversial phrase.

Speaking to The Observer, Sir Keir said he would not have used those words if he had known they would be seen as echoing the language of Enoch Powell's notorious 1968 "rivers of blood" speech.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sir Sajid Javid leads commission 'tackling social divisions'

Sir Sajid Javid (Photo by Tom Nicholson-WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Sir Sajid Javid leads commission 'tackling social divisions'

A cross-party group has been formed to tackle the deep divisions that sparked last summer's riots across England. The new commission will be led by former Tory minister Sir Sajid Javid and ex-Labour MP Jon Cruddas.

The Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion has backing from both prime minister Sir Keir Starmer and Tory leader Kemi Badenoch. It brings together 19 experts from different political parties and walks of life.

Keep ReadingShow less
​Masum

Masum was seen on CCTV trying to steer the pram away and, when she refused to go with him, stabbed her multiple times before walking away and boarding a bus. (Photo: West Yorkshire Police)

West Yorkshire Police

Habibur Masum convicted of murdering estranged wife in front of baby

A MAN who stabbed his estranged wife to death in Bradford in front of their baby has been convicted of murder.

Habibur Masum, 26, attacked 27-year-old Kulsuma Akter in broad daylight on April 6, 2024, stabbing her more than 25 times while she pushed their seven-month-old son in a pram. The baby was not harmed.

Keep ReadingShow less