Kamala Harris formally accepts US vice president nomination

The Democratic party officially nominated US Senator Kamala Harris for vice president on Wednesday, making her the first woman of color to feature on a major party's White House ticket.

The 55-year-old California senator addressed the Democratic National Convention after former President Barack Obama, who warned that US democracy might not survive if Republican President Donald Trump was reelected.

In her speech, Harris, the daughter of Jamaican and Indian immigrants, called for voters to rally behind former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee for president, "who will bring all of us together."

Read more: Can Kamala Harris sway Indian-American voters?

She said she shared Biden's vision of America, "where all are welcome, no matter what we look like, where we come from, or who we love."

Harris accused Trump of "turning our tragedies into political weapons." 

"Donald Trump's failure of leadership has cost lives and livelihoods," she said.

Harris also spoke of her late mother, an Indian immigrant who instilled in her a vision of "our nation as a beloved community - where all are welcome, no matter what we look like, where we come from or who we love.''

She was joined on stage by Biden following her speech, as well as her husband Douglas Emhoff and Dr. Jill Biden.

Harris was one of several candidates vying for the Democratic nomination for president, but withdrew from the race last December before the primaries began.

dv/rc (AFP, AP)