Meet Hillary’s new running mate Tim Kaine, a friend for India

Democratic Party’s nominee for US presidential elections Hillary Clinton on Friday picked Virginia senator Tim Kaine as her running mate. Known for his fluent Spanish and philanthropic activities, Kaine will now join hands with Clinton in head-to-head war with Republican candidate Donald Trump and his running mate Indiana Governor Mike Pence.

I'm thrilled to announce my running mate, @TimKaine, a man who's devoted his life to fighting for others. -H pic.twitter.com/lTVyfztE5Z

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) July 23, 2016

Born to a welder family in Minnesota, Kaine grew up in Kansas city and attended Harvard Law School. During his law school he took a year-long break to work with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Honduras.

The 58-year-old leader is a former Governor of Virginia. He was elected to the US Senate on 2013. 

Kaine is widely seen as India-friendly senator. He is a member of the Senate India Caucus. He had also visited India as part of a Congressional delegation in October 2014. Kaine has been an strong advocate of India-US relationship.

"It was an honour to hear Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi's vision for India before a joint session of Congress in the US Capitol today," Kaine said in a statement on June 8 after Modi's address.

"With the strategic importance of the US-India relationship growing every year, I've been encouraged by increased cooperation on defense issues between our two countries, including the ongoing discussions regarding aircraft carrier technology," he said.

"As we continue to foster stability and combat terrorism in the Indo-Asia Pacific region, continued collaboration and expansion of multilateral exercises with our regional partners will be absolutely critical," Kaine said.

"I also applaud India's commitment to addressing climate change through the Paris Agreement, in which India committed to using technology innovation to grow its economy while reducing its carbon footprint," Kaine added.

Virginia, he said, has a strong and vibrant Indian-American community representative of the close personal, business, and educational bonds between the two nations — the world's two largest democracies.

"Some members of the Indian-American community in Virginia, many of whom are Sikh, have expressed concerns about issues of religious tolerance and liberty in India. I hope that Prime Minister Modi continues efforts to better protect the inalienable rights afforded to all people, just as we fight against expressions of religious intolerance in our own political climate," Kaine said.