Almost made it from war prison to US Prez: John McCain RIP

New York: Influential US Senator John McCain, a Vietnam war hero and a towering figure in the American political scene, who turned out to be a prominent critic of President Donald Trump has died following a battle with an aggressive form of brain cancer. He was 81.

McCain, a six-term senator from Arizona, who was a friend of India, had been suffering from a malignant brain tumor, called a glioblastoma, for which he had been treated periodically with radiation and chemotherapy since its discovery in 2017. The son and grandson of four-star admirals, McCain endured more than five years of imprisonment and torture by the North Vietnamese as a young naval officer.

In an editorial he wrote for CNN ahead of PM Narendra Modi's 2016 US visit, he said it was remarkable how much bipartisan support the US-India relationship enjoys on Capitol Hill, an upsurge of interest and respect that is normally reserved only for close partners and allies. "In all my years in Congress, I recall only a select few countries that rose so quickly to such an exalted esteem," McCain wrote two years ago.