When Nikki Haley flaunted her Indian connection

UNITED NATIONS: US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has said she discussed becoming secretary of state with Donald Trump after his election but the US president ultimately did not offer her the job.Haley, a rising star in the Trump administration, told a news conference on Monday she had no ambition beyond her current post at the United Nations , for the time being."Every position I've ever had, people have assumed that I am looking toward something bigger, when in reality I am the daughter of Indian parents who said to me 'whatever you do, be great at it and make sure people remember you for it.'""That is all I have ever known how to be is to try and just do my job to the best of my ability and if that comes out blunt and if that comes out strong -- I'm one of two brothers and a sister -- my parents raised us all to be strong," she said.Haley was born Nimrata Randhawa to Ajit Singh Randhawa and mother Raj Kaur Randhawa, who had emigrated from Punjab to Canada and then to the US in the 1960s.Her father had been a professor at the Punjab Agricultural University, and her mother had received her law degree from the University of Delhi.Haley, earlier this year, scripted history by becoming the first-ever Indian-American to be appointed to a cabinet-level post in any US administration.Asked about reports that she had turned down the post of secretary of state in November, Haley made clear that Trump had not offered her the position."The original call that I received to go to Trump Tower was to discuss secretary of state," she said. "No, he did not offer it.""It was the discussion that we were having at the time. So, when we went in, that was the position that we were discussing."Politico reported that Haley had turned down president-elect Trump's offer to become secretary of state during a November 17 meeting, telling him that she lacked the foreign policy experience.A former governor of South Carolina, Haley is seen as a skilled politician whose stint at the United Nations could serve as a springboard to a more powerful role in US politics.Haley has been a leading voice on the US administration's foreign policy, in contrast to US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who has held a low profile.The US ambassador dismissed a suggestion that she was outshining Tillerson, describing the US chief diplomat as a "great partner" and stressing "we work well together."