Earlier in the day, a close aide of Mr. Trump from South Carolina said that Ms. Haley was being considered for a Cabinet position, including that of the Secretary of State.

Indian American Governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, has emerged as a contender for the post of Secretary of State under incoming President Donald Trump.

Ms. Haley was a critic of Mr. Trump’s racially charged campaign and endorsed his rival Marco Rubio in the Republican primary. She supported Mr. Trump in the general election.

Ms. Haley was scheduled to meet Mr. Trump on Thursday even as the President-elect continues with deliberations on picking his Cabinet members. Former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton are reportedly the other contenders for the key position.

Born Nimrata Randhawa to Sikh immigrant parents from Punjab, Ms. Haley became the first Indian American woman to be elected Governor of a U.S. State in 2010.

Ms. Haley and Mr. Trump locked horns during the primary when she disapproved of the latter’s politics, saying, “during anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices.”

“She’s very weak on illegal immigration,” Mr. Trump retorted. However, Ms. Haley’s name continued to circulate as a potential vice-presidential candidate this season. If the 44-year old is appointed into the cabinet, it will be a significant political message from Mr. Trump.

As Governor of South Carolina, she removed the Confederate Flag from the legislative building of the State in 2015, facing down stiff opposition from white groups that considered it a part of their heritage. Due to its ties with slavery, the flag has a bruising impact on African American sensibility, and, Ms. Haley took the decision to remove it after a white nationalist killed nine people at an African American church. The assassin had several photographs of himself with the Confederate Flag.

“There is a place for that flag,” she told CNN then. “It’s not in a place that represents all people in South Carolina. It should be in a museum.”

Not only that she represents the wing within the Republican Party that argues for a more socially inclusive approach for it, Ms. Haley, as a child, also experienced the racial discrimination that existed in the State.