Chandigarh: Punjab and Haryana have agreed to begin official-level talks to take forward discussions on the long-pending Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue. The decision was taken on Tuesday during a meeting between Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and his Haryana counterpart Nayab Singh Saini, which lasted for about an hour.
Addressing a joint press conference after the meeting, both chief ministers said the discussions were held in a positive atmosphere and expressed hope that meaningful outcomes would emerge in the coming days. Mann said continuous dialogue at the officers’ level would now begin, with officials from both states sharing details of their meetings. Based on these deliberations, further discussions would be held at the chief ministerial level.
Mann said the intention behind the official-level talks was to find a solution to the decades-old dispute. “No one’s rights should be compromised. This is an old, complicated issue, and we want it to be resolved,” he said. Responding to a question on the construction of the canal, Mann remarked that the water-sharing issue needed to be settled first, adding that “the canal can be built later”.
Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini echoed similar sentiments, saying the talks were conducted in a constructive environment and that officer-level meetings would begin soon to take the process forward.
While no concrete breakthrough emerged during what was the sixth round of talks between the two states, the decision to hold a joint press conference and the absence of aggressive posturing by either side indicated a cautious approach, particularly in view of the upcoming Punjab assembly elections.
Bhagwant Mann attended the meeting with a 16-member delegation, including water resources minister Barinder Kumar Goyal and principal secretary Krishan Kumar. Haryana chief minister Saini was also accompanied by senior officials.
The previous meeting between the two chief ministers was held on August 5, 2025. Earlier, river water issues were deferred during the Northern Zonal Council meeting in Faridabad on November 17, 2025, chaired by Union home minister Amit Shah. Punjab has consistently maintained that it is facing a severe water crisis, with officials noting that 115 of the state’s 153 blocks have already slipped into the red zone.
The 214-kilometre-long SYL canal has remained incomplete for decades, with 122 kilometres falling in Punjab. The Supreme Court, in January 2002, had directed Punjab to construct the canal as per existing agreements, but the issue has remained mired in legal and political disputes ever since.
