Kamala Harris’ family in India would be flying to the US to attend the swearing-in ceremony

“I am very proud of Kamala, I will call and congratulate her soon… My phone hasn’t stopped ringing since the news came out,” said 80-year-old Gopalan Balachandran, the maternal uncle of Kamala Harris, who was announced as the Vice-President electof the United States on Saturday.

Balachandran said he and the rest of Harris’s family in India would be flying to the US to attend the swearing-in ceremony in January next year.

“My daughter is already there, helping Kamala with her campaign. All of us will fly down… I wouldn’t miss it for anything,” he told The Indian Express.

Balachandran, who was previously with the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, is a resident of Delhi’s Malviya Nagar, and is the brother of Harris’s mother Shyamala Gopalan.

“Kamala’s mother would have been very proud too if she were here today…” Gopalan, who moved to the US for her education at the age of 19, died of cancer in 2009.

Recalling Kamala’s younger days, Balachandran said, “She was very inspired by Shyamala, her mother, who would attend civil rights protests back then. She (Kamala) grew up being a firm believer in equal rights for all, so in the long run I know that she will take steps to guarantee these rights in her country.”