US envoy congratulates Kamala Harris

New Delhi: US Ambassador to India Richard Verma on Wednesday extended special congratulations to Kamala Harris, the first Indian American elected to the US Senate.

"We offer special congratulations to Indian-American senator Kamala Harris, who was elected," Verma said.

Harris was elected from California to the Senate defeating fellow-Democrat Loretta Sanchez.

"I can tell you we have come a long way from when I was working in the House of Representatives as an intern in 1987, when you could count on one hand the people of South-Asian descent who were working in the Capitol Hill," said Verma, who is an American of Indian origin.

Harris, 52, who traces her family roots to Chennai, is a lawyer by profession and was twice elected Attorney General in 2010 and 2014.

Harris has a dual identity: She is also counted as an African American as her father is a Jamaican of African descent and she follows the Baptist faith.

On Wednesday, US elected Donald Trump as its 45th president.