Panchkula (Haryana), Dec 24: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the Narendra Modi government stands like a rock with the states in their fight against drug and human trafficking, cybercrime, and organised crime.

Shah said that a few years ago, there were three big challenges in the country in the matter of law and order — left-wing extremism, terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, and armed groups in the northeast.

“But after 10 years from the formation of the Modi government, there is peace in these three areas, and the country is safe on these three fronts,” he claimed. Shah was addressing the Passing Out Parade (POP) of the Recruit Basic Course (RBC) Batch-93 here.

Addressing the recruits, he said, “Your leadership is ready for it, and you will have to strengthen the hands of your leadership.”

“We stand like a rock with the states,” he said, referring to the Union government.

He said that the role of forensic science under the new criminal laws has been decided.

“In crimes in which punishment is more than seven years, a visit by forensic experts to the scene of the crime has been made compulsory, and the main objective of this is to ensure punishment for the guilty,” he said.

Shah told the constables that they were joining the police force at a time when the Colonial-era laws had been replaced by the new criminal laws.

He said the batch is the first from Haryana since the implementation of the new criminal laws.

As many as 5,061 newly trained constables formally joined the state police force from the batch.

This is the first batch in which 85 per cent youth are graduates and above, with an average age of 26, Shah said.

When Haryana was formed, it had one police range and six districts, which have now increased to five ranges and 19 districts, in addition to railway police and cyber crime, the minister said.

According to a Haryana Police statement, the recruits underwent rigorous training from December 16, 2024, to September 22, 2025.

The statement quoted A S Chawla, Director, Haryana Police Academy, Madhuban, Karnal, to say that the batch is noteworthy for its strong academic background.

Of the 5,061 recruits, 969 are postgraduates, 3,324 are graduates, and 768 possess Class 12 or diploma qualifications, it said.

Many recruits are proficient in Hindi, English, and Punjabi.

The programme was a part of the series of events where Shah was the chief guest.

Before the event, Shah, who is also the Cooperation Minister, addressed a national cooperative conference here. The Haryana Police has a strength of 77,000 police personnel.

New York/Washington, Dec 24: China probably seeks to capitalise on the de-escalation of tension along the Line of Actual Control with India to stabilise bilateral relations and prevent the deepening of US-India ties, according to a report by the US Department of War.

In its annual report to Congress on Tuesday on ‘Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2025’, the department said that in October 2024, Indian leadership announced an agreement with China.

The agreement was to disengage from remaining standoff sites along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), two days before a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit.

The Xi-Modi meeting marked the onset of monthly high-level engagements between the two countries, where parties discussed border management and next steps for the bilateral relationship, including direct flights, visa facilitation, and the exchange of academics and journalists, it said.

“China probably seeks to capitalise on decreased tension along the LAC to stabilise bilateral relations and prevent the deepening of US-India ties; however, India probably remains sceptical of China’s actions and motives. Continued mutual distrust and other irritants almost certainly limit the bilateral relationship,” the report said.

In the last few months, India and China have initiated a series of measures to normalise their relations after ending the over four-year military face-off along the LAC in eastern Ladakh in October last year.

In July, India resumed granting tourist visas for Chinese nationals.

India and China have, in recent months, agreed on several people-centric steps to reset their ties. These include agreement to resume Kailash Manasarovar Yatra, resumption of direct flights, commemoration of 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations and visa facilitation.

The direct flights between the two countries resumed in October.

In August, Prime Minister Modi and President Xi agreed to deepen bilateral ties to combat pressing challenges and work towards a “fair” solution to the festering border issue.

According to the Department of War report, China’s National Strategy is to achieve “the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” by 2049.

In this vision, a rejuvenated China would have raised its “influence, appeal, and power to shape events to a new level,” and it would field a “world-class” military that can “fight and win” and “resolutely safeguard” the country’s sovereignty, security, and development interests.

China claims three “core interests,” defined as issues so central to China’s national rejuvenation that their official position is not subject to negotiation or compromise. These include the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) control, promoting China’s economic development and defending and expanding China’s sovereignty and territorial claims.

“China’s leadership has extended the term ‘core interest’ to cover Taiwan and China’s sovereignty claims amid territorial disputes in the South China Sea, the Senkaku Islands, and the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh,” it said.

The report said that under President Donald Trump’s leadership, relations between the US and China are “stronger than they have been in many years,” and the Department of War will support efforts to build on this progress.

“We will do so in part by opening a wider range of military-to-military communications with the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) with a focus on strategic stability as well as deconfliction and de-escalation, more broadly. We will also seek other ways to make clear our peaceful intentions,” it said.

The report emphasised that US interests in the Indo-Pacific are fundamental — but also scoped and reasonable.

“We do not seek to strangle, dominate, or humiliate China. Rather, as laid out in President Trump’s National Security Strategy, we seek only to deny the ability of any country in the Indo-Pacific to dominate us or our allies. That means being so strong that aggression is not even considered, and that peace is therefore preferred and preserved,” it said.

The Department of War will therefore prioritise bolstering deterrence in the Indo-Pacific through strength, not confrontation.

“President Trump seeks a stable peace, fair trade, and respectful relations with China, and the Department of War will ensure that he is able to achieve these objectives from a position of military strength. In the process, we will forge and sustain a balance of power that will enable all of us to enjoy a decent peace in an Indo-Pacific — one in which trade flows openly and fairly, we can all prosper, and all nations’ interests are respected,” it said.