Washington: Indian-origin Republican leader Vivek Ramaswamy has said that many Indian Americans in the US have been offended as US Vice President Kamala Harris has "cast aside" her Indian identity.

Ramaswamy recalled that Kamala Harris leaned onto her Indian American identity when she ran for office in California and added that she wears a different identity when it is politically convenient on a national stage.

Speaking to Fox News, Vivek Ramaswamy said, "On a very personal level, my parents were immigrants to this country, legal immigrants from southern India, the very same part of India that her mother also immigrated from. I think it's a hard fact, it's just a fact whether you like it or not, that many Indian Americans in the United States are indeed somewhat offended by the way Kamala has suddenly cast aside the Indian American side of her identity."

"She leaned into it when she ran for office in California, big Asian American and Indian American population. So, she wore that when it was convenient. She's wearing a different identity now when it's politically convenient on a national stage," he added.

Speaking to Fox News, Ramaswamy said that Kamala Harris' leaning into identity politics opens the door to criticism. He stated that Harris' candidature lacks vision for the US.

He said, "I don't think we should be relying on these ethnic identities at all. We're American. And the problem is when you're Kamala Harris and you actually do lean into your identity politics, then you open the door to that type of criticism."

"But if you ask me, that shouldn't be how this election is decided one way or another. It should be decided on our own identity as Americans and what our vision is for the future of the country. And the number one thing missing in Kamala Harris's candidacy is that she lacks that vision for the country. That's what we've got to focus on," he added.

Kamala Harris's ethnic identity is becoming a key issue in the US presidential election campaign. It came under further scrutiny after former US President Donald Trump launched a strong personal attack on Vice President and rival in the upcoming presidential polls, Kamala Harris, by claiming that she, after being of "Indian heritage" for years, "turned black" a few years ago, CNN reported.

He further claimed that Harris "all of a sudden, made a turn" in her identity and wants to be known as black.

Trump made the comments at a gathering of journalists in Chicago when an interviewer asked him why black voters should consider backing a candidate with his history of racist attacks on political rivals. He responded by questioning Harris' heritage.

"She was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn't know she was black until a number of years ago, when she happened to turn black, and now she wants to be known as black. So I don't know, is she Indian or is she black?" CNN quoted him as saying.

"I respect either one, but she obviously doesn't, because she was Indian all the way, and then all of a sudden she made a turn and she went - she became a Black person," he said. "I think somebody should look into that too," he added.

Kamala Harris is of Indian origin. Her mother is Indian and her father is Jamaican; both immigrated to the United States. She is the first woman of colour and the first Asian American vice president. If Harris wins the upcoming polls, she will become the first woman president of the country.

Meanwhile, Kamala Harris has hit back at Donald Trump over the latter's remarks against her racial identity and said the American people "deserve better."

She asserted that today the country faces a choice between two different visions, and alleged that Trump and his campaign aim to take the country "backward."

Harris was speaking at a Houston fundraiser on Wednesday (local time), hours after Trump claimed that Harris, after being of "Indian heritage" for years, "turned black" a few years ago.

"In this moment, we face a choice, between two very different visions for our nation. One focused on the future, the other focused on the past. And we in this room, are fighting for the future," she told the donors.

"As we work to move our nation forward...there are those who are trying to take us backward. You might have seen their agenda, they call it Project 2025 and it is a 900-page agenda of extremism," Harris added.

(With Inputs From Agencies)