"When My Mother Came From India, She Didn't Imagine...": Kamala Harris

Kamala Harris, who has made history by becoming the first woman, the first Black person and the first Indian-American to become US Vice President, paid tribute to her Indian mother.

"I'm grateful to the woman most responsible for my presence here today, my mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris. When she came here from India at the age of 19, she maybe didn't imagine this moment. But she believed so deeply in America where moment like this is possible," Kamala Harris said in her first address to the nation as Vice President-Elect.

"I am thinking about her and generations of women, black women, Asian, White, Latina, Native American women who throughout our nation's history have paved the way for this moment tonight," the 57-year-old said to loud cheering at an outdoor rally in Joe Biden's home city of Wilmington, Delaware.

Kamala Harris is the daughter of an Indian immigrant and a Jamaican-born father. She is a Christian, but also attended Hindu temples with her mother.

When Joe Biden picked her as his running mate, Kamala Harris had referred to her Indian roots in her acceptance speech and had talked about her childhood trips to Tamil Nadu, the support she received from her "chittis (aunts)".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to it as he paid tribute to her "pathbreaking" success on Twitter. It is "a matter of immense pride not just for your chittis, but also for all Indian-Americans," he wrote.

As the world waited for the outcome of the US election, the village of Kamala Harris's grandparents, Thulasendrapuram near Chennai, held prayers. The election was finally called late on Saturday night in India.