In Punjab, Haley relatives cheer her appointment as UN envoy
new delhi — Nikki Haley may have been born in the United States but her extended family back in India is thrilled that the South Carolina governor has been named by US President-elect Donald Trump as ambassador to the United Nations.
Haley’s parents hail from rural Punjab. They moved to Amritsar home to the Golden Temple that is the most holy place of the Sikh religion — before emigrating to North America in the early 1960s.
Haley, 44, was born Nimrata Randhawa in Bamberg, South Carolina — she was called ‘Nikki’ as a child and took the family name of husband Michael when they married in Sikh and Methodist ceremonies in 1996.
Kanwaljit Singh Randhawa, a 70-year-old cousin, told Reuters family and friends were thrilled by Haley’s appointment and said it could help improve relations between the United States and India.
“It is a great achievement for Punjab and India. We are proud of the fact that (Nikki) has achieved this success,” Randhawa said.
Haley came only once to India as a four-year-old child, doesn’t speak Punjabi and has converted to Christianity.
But she has visited India more recently in an official capacity, going to Amritsar in November 2014 on what she called ‘an emotional and very personal day”.
“I always yearned to see Punjab — my motherland — and now I am so proud to be here after almost 40 years,” she told TV reporters at the time, her voice choking with emotion > Haley’s parents hail from rural Punjab, moved to Amritsar before emigrating to North America in the early 1960s. > Haley was born Nimrata Randhawa in Bamberg, South Carolina. > She was called ‘Nikki’ as a child as she steadied herself with nips from a water bottle.
Her biography is similar to that of Richard Verma, the first US ambassador to New Delhi of Indian origin. He was born in the United States into a Punjabi family but visited often as a child. Verma was mobbed by relatives and locals when he visited his ancestral home in early 2015. and took the family name of husband Michael when they married in Sikh in 1996. > Haley came only once to India as a four-year-old child, doesn’t speak Punjabi and has converted to Christianity.
Haley has little foreign policy experience, while Trump has expressed favourable views towards India, where he has some real estate interests. The tycoon-turnedTV reality star told one cultural event put on by diaspora Republicans during the presidential campaign that he loved the country and its people. —
Haley’s parents hail from rural Punjab