California Senator Kamala Harris has formally accepted her nomination as the Democratic Party's Vice Presidential candidate, becoming the first woman of South Asian descent to be nominated to a major US party's presidential ticket.

In her acceptance speech on Wednesday night at the ongoing Democraic National Convention (DNC) at the Chase Centre in Wisconsin, Harris, a daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants, said: "It is truly an honour to be speaking with you. That I am here tonight is a testament to the dedication of generations before me.

"Women and men who believed so fiercely in the promise of equality, liberty, and justice for all."

"I accept your nomination for Vice President of the United States of America," ABC News quoted Harris as saying.

Harris was officially nominated by her sister Maya, niece Meena, and stepdaughter, Ella Emhoff, CNN reported.

The Senator opened her vice presidential acceptance speech by remembering her late mother, Shyamala Gopalan, a cancer researcher from India, lamenting the fact that she could not be there to see her daughter's achievement.

"My mother taught me that service to others gives life purpose and meaning. And oh, how I wish she were here tonight but I know she's looking down on me from above," Harris was quoted as saying..