General U.S. NewsJul 12, 2026·2 min read

Lindsey Graham's 4 high-stakes remarks that made headlines: ‘500% India tariffs', Pak’s mediator role problematic, more

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US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a longtime ally of President Donald Trump and a prominent figure in US foreign policy, died at the age of 71 following what his office called a “brief and sudden illness”. Representing South Carolina in the Senate for over 20 years, Graham was one of the Republican Party's strongest backers of Ukraine in its war against Russia and a vocal proponent of imposing tougher sanctions on Moscow. He was a vocal critic of India's purchases of Russian oil and sparked headlines with his remarks four times around high-sensitive global situations. In February this year, Graham asserted that India had cut its purchases of Russian oil “dramatically” while voicing support for the tariffs imposed by Trump on India. He called the development a “good example” of how such policy measures could influence the behaviour of other nations. The previous month, Graham praised Trump for “greenlighting” the Graham-Blumenthal sanctions bill, which he had helped introduce. The legislation reportedly proposed giving the US president the authority to impose tariffs of up to 500% on countries, including India, that continue buying Russian oil. The Republican senator stated the bill would "allow" Trump to "punish countries who buy cheap Russian oil fueling Putin's war machine". 2. You’ve got to end this.” During the interview, Graham also said that ousting Iran's supreme leader would pave the way for peace in the region. 3. During college days, he joined India’s only non-profit student journalism network, where he anchored daily news updates and produced his own weekly show called ‘Data Fix’. He was selected for the YES Foundation Media for Social Change Fellowship in Delhi, the Talking Data to the Fourth Pillar residential workshop, and the VOICE Fellowship in Pune. He holds certificates in COVID-19-verification reporting, data journalism, food & agriculture, tech policy, media literacy and countering misinformation, and tackling election disinformation courses from Thomson Foundation, IndiaSpend, The Dialogue, US Mission in India, and AFP. He can be reached on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/garvit-bhirani">LinkedIn</a> or on <a href="https://x.com/GarvitBhirani">@garvitbhirani</a> on X Stay updated with the latest Trending , India , World and US news.

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Representing South Carolina in the Senate for over 20 years, Lindsey Graham was one of the Republican Party's strongest backers of Ukraine in its war against Russia and a vocal proponent of imposing tougher sanctions on Moscow. He was a vocal critic of India's purchases of Russian oil.

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Lindsey Graham's 4 high-stakes remarks that made headlines: ‘500% India tariffs', Pak’s mediator role problematic, more

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