In congratulatory missive to Kamala Harris, Modi hopes to boost India-US ties

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated Kamala Harris on assumption of office as Vice President of the United States of America and termed the momentous occasion as 'historic'. In a tweet, the Prime Minister said "Congratulations to @KamalaHarris on being sworn-in as @VP. It is a historic occasion. Looking forward to interacting with her to make India-USA relations more robust. The India-USA partnership is beneficial for our planet." In a missive, Mr Modi has also congratulated new US President Joe Biden. "I look forward to working with him to strengthen the India-US Strategic partnership," the Prime Minister wrote. The US presidential election and subsequent move by Biden to field Kamala Harris as the Vice President candidate had triggered unusual debate on the geo-political landscape in India. In fact, Some sections of the media say the nomination of Kamala Harris, whose mother is a migrant Indian, as the Democrats’ vice president candidate did sway substantial votes of Asian Americans against Republican President Donald Trump. The nomination of 56-year-old Harris as Joe Biden’s running mate was also seen in some quarters as the “blossoming of the American lotus,” giving it a pro-Hindu tint. Of course, the name Kamala in Sanskrit means lotus and the lotus is also the electoral symbol of BJP. Kamala Harris is the daughter of cancer biologist Shyamala Gopalan, who had migrated from the southern Indian city of Chennai. Her father is a Jamaican migrant. In her maternal grandfather's hometown of Thulasendrapuram, about 350 kilometers from Chennai people rejoiced Kamala taking charge as the US Vice President. During the tenure of both Mr Modi and Mr Trump, the India-US relations have improved manifold. The question now is, will the new dispensation in Washington would take the bilateral relationship to a new height and whether it would also make things tougher for Islamic forces and some of its power centres like Pakistan? It also remains to be seen how the American government's policy toward immigrants and Muslims will now move forward. Meanwhile, the new White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has said that President Joe Biden respects and values the "long bipartisan relationship" of America with India. "President (Joe) Biden, who of course has visited India many times, respects and values the long bipartisan successful relationship between leaders in India and the United States. It looks forward to a continuation of that," Psaki said. ends