India, July 12 -- Lindsey Graham, a longtime US senator from South Carolina, died at the age of 71 on Saturday evening after a brief and sudden illness, his office confirmed in a post on X on Sunday.

A close ally of US President Donald Trump, Graham frequently made headlines for his controversial remarks on a range of issues.

In February this year, he claimed that India had reduced its purchases of Russian oil "dramatically", and argued that tariffs imposed by Trump on Delhi were a "good example" of how policy measures could influence countries' actions.

"Clearly, the pressure we're applying to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin to come to the peace table and stop massive attacks against Ukraine is not working. President Trump's idea o...