Proud of her Indian heritage, South Carolina’s Indian American governor Nikki Haley says she wanted an opportunity to partner with India, since becoming chief executive, and now those talks are underway.

“As I became governor, what I saw was an opportunity – it’s an opportunity to partner with a country that continues to be strong when it comes to jobs and…in innovation,” Haley told reporters in the state capital Columbia Wednesday after a meeting with visiting Indian Ambassador Nirupama Rao.

“And so what I’ve asked is, ‘how do we get Indian companies to come and do business in South Carolina?’ I talked to the ambassador, and we are going to continue to talk.”

Rao, who has been visiting South Carolina, said “I am exceptionally happy to be here.”

“In the last two days, I’ve been to Charleston, and I’ve been here in Columbia, and I’ve had discussions with Governor Haley and her team. We’ve looked at the ways to cement better relations between India and South Carolina.

“There are immense possibilities because this is really in many senses a time of awakening when it comes to India-US relations.

“We have a number of Indian companies that do business in the United States, that have invested here, and what I’m going to try to do is to see that we have Indian companies come to South Carolina. “

“South Carolina provides a very conducive environment for foreign investment and which is what Indian companies would look to,” Rao said.

Praising Haley as epitomizing the achievements of Indian Americans in the US, she said: “”She (Haley) is a star back home. We love her for achievements. In many ways, she epitomizes the achievements of the Indian American community in this country; all that they have done to make America proud and to make India proud.”

Born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa to Sikh immigrant parents, Haley is the first Indian American woman and the second Indian American governor of a US State after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. Both are from the Republican Party.