NEW YORK, Nov 07 (APP) Former Vice President Joe Biden has been elected the 46th president of the United States, narrowly emerging victorious from a hotly-contested White House campaign that stretched days past election night, as vote tallies in several battleground states were slowed by an unprecedented surge in postal ballots, according to US media projections.

He will address the nation tonight, an official told CNN.

With this victory, Kamala Devi Harris, a senator and former prosecutor born to a Jamaican father and Indian mother, became the first Black person and first person of Asian descent to become vice president in US 244-year history.

Biden, who has visited Pakistan both as a senator and vice-president, edged out President Donald Trump after one term in the office. In the days since voting ended, Trump has claimed a premature victory and accused Democrats were trying to steal the election. The Trump campaign is still contesting the process in several states, and said in a statement Friday: “This election is not over.”

Prime Minister Imran Khan congratulated the President-elect Joe Biden and said he looked forward to working with him to end illegal tax havens, and stealing of national wealth by corrupt leaders.

“We will continue to work with the US for peace in Afghanistan and in the region,” Imran Khan said in a tweet.

Biden campaigned on the promise to restore political normalcy and a spirit of national unity to confront raging health and economic crises, after four years of tumult in the White House.

Despite Trump’s rhetoric, Biden’s team projected confidence as ballots were tabulated, knowing that large chunks of the vote still to be counted were in diverse Democratic strongholds like Milwaukee, Detroit and Philadelphia.

The Associated Press, an American news agency, was first to call the race for Biden on Saturday when it said that Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes put him over the 270-vote threshold needed to win the Electoral College.

Spontaneous celebrations break out across the USA

Biden was born in Pennsylvania and launched his campaign with rallies in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. He spent Election Day visiting his childhood home in Scranton and then rallying supporters in Philadelphia.

President Trump is the first incumbent president to lose re-election since George H.W. Bush in 1992, while kamala Harris makes history as the first Black woman and first person of South Asian descent elected as vice president of the U.S.

Joe Biden in a tweet immediately after the announcement said he was honoured that the people of the United States of America have chosen him to lead the country.

“The work ahead of us will be hard, but I promise you this: I will be a President for all Americans – whether you voted for me or not.”