New Delhi, Dec. 28 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday called for strengthened cooperative federalism to bolster human capital to meet India's long-term development goal during the fifth national conference of chief secretaries, officials aware of the matter said. The three-day conference, which began on Friday at the National Agricultural Science Complex (NASC) in Delhi's Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), is aimed at strengthening the Centre-state partnership through structured and sustained dialogue on national development priorities. Anchored in the Prime Minister's vision of cooperative federalism, the forum brings the Centre and states together to design a unified roadmap to maximise India's human capital potential and accelerate inclusive, future-ready growth. In a post on X, the Prime Minister said: "Had insightful discussions on various issues relating to governance and reforms during the National Conference of Chief Secretaries being held in Delhi." He is also scheduled to chair the conference on Sunday. This year's conference is focused on the theme "Human Capital for Viksit Bharat", covering best practices and strategies for states and Union territories. Under the overarching theme, detailed deliberations are being held across five priority areas - early childhood education, schooling, skilling, higher education, and sports and extracurricular activities. According to the officials, who attended the conference, the sessions on early childhood education highlighted the importance of nutrition, health and foundational learning in the early years. "Discussions on schooling focused on improving quality, teacher capacity and student engagement, while skilling and higher education sessions examined ways to better align training and academic programmes with emerging industry needs, innovation and technological change. The role of sports and co-curricular activities in nurturing holistic talent and discipline also featured prominently," said one of the officials, asking not to be named....