About the crisis in the Middle East, the US Secretary of State emphasised the need to prevent an escalation. [...] In actuality, Blinken's trip to China coincided with the bipartisan passage by the US Congress of a bill authorising $8 billion in defence assistance to Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific, demonstrating the Congress's ongoing commitment to bolstering deterrence in the area. [...] The areas where the meeting seemed to break ground were the issues of cooperation on curbing the flow of synthetic opioids, a willingness to collaborate on AI governance and people-to-people ties. [...] Thirdly, it came on the heels of increasing instability in West Asia, due to growing tensions between Iran and Israel, which has the potential to threaten and jeopardize the peace and stability in the region. [...] The joint statement issued at the end of the visit underlined the importance of bilateral relations and the two sides agreed to expand trade and economic ties with a commitment to transform the common border from a ‘Border of Peace’ to a ‘Border of Prosperity’ through joint development-oriented economic projects.
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- India
