Joe Biden picks Kamala Harris as his US vice-presidential candidate

Joe Biden, the Presidential candidate, has picked India-origin Kamala Harris as his running mate for the elections.

Biden announced the news on Tuesday.

Harris is a daughter of Indian and American immigrants.

Announcing the news, Biden said Harris is one of the country’s finest public servants.

Harris is the first Asian-American on a major presidential ticket.

Harris herself was a presidential aspirant until last year before she dropped out of the race because of lack of popular support.

She is also the first African American of a major party and only the third woman yet to run for that office, after Democrat Geraldine Ferraro and Republican Sarah Palin.

The 55-year-old first time senator from California is the daughter of Indian mother from Chennai, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, a cancer researcher who passed away in 2009, and Jamaican father, Donald Harris, who teaches at Stanford University.

The parents separated when Harris and her younger sister Maya Harris were still very young.