Sri Lankan Tamils congratulate Biden, Harris

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the main Tamil party in Sri Lanka, on Sunday congratulated US President-elect Joe Biden and his deputy Kamala Harris.

The Biden-Harris ticket has defeated incumbent President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in a bitterly-fought election that attracted a record number of Americans to cast their votes.

TNA is the first Sri Lankan party to congratulate Biden and Harris for winning the US election.

"As the premier political party representing the Tamil people in Sri Lanka, we congratulate (US) President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on a momentous victory," TNA said in a statement.

Harris, 56, the first immigrant and the first woman ever to become the US vice president is of Tamil origin. She is also the first African-American woman, the first Indian-American and the first Asian-American US vice president.

Harris was born to two immigrant parents: a Black father and an Indian mother. Her father, Donald Harris, is from Jamaica, while her mother, late Shyamala Gopalan, a cancer researcher and civil rights activist, was an Indian from Chennai belonging to the Tamil community. Harris, however, defines herself simply as ‘American'.

The Sri Lankan Tamil community on social media has been hailing Harris' Tamilian origin ever since she was named Biden's running mate in August, months after she suspended her own presidential dreams, saying she lacked the financial resources to continue her campaign.