New Delhi, Jul 16 (UNI) The nation can progress only if the Union and State governments walk shoulder to shoulder, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said as he set the agenda for discussion of the meeting of Inter-State Council where all Chief Ministers and administrators of union territories had a day-long brain storming on the issues related to development of the country. "In a democracy as big and diverse as ours, debate, deliberation and discussion help evolve policy that relates to the ground reality, " the Prime Minister said, invoking former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in his opening address as Chief Ministers, including Delhi's Arvind Kejariwal and Bihar's Nitish Kumar, having uncomfortable relations with the Centre, listened to him. The Inter-State Council, which is supposed to be the most significant platform for strengthening Centre-State and Inter-State relations was meeting for the first time after a gap of almost ten years. The Prime Minister said the cooperation between the Centre and the states was must as it would be difficult for any Government to successfully implement a scheme on its own. He also sought states' cooperation on the issue of Internal Security, which he described an important matter of the agenda. The internal security of the country cannot be strengthened until the Centre and state governments focus on intelligence sharing, ensure greater coordination among agencies, and equip police forces with modern approach and technology. UNI MK CJ SB 1909