The Chief Ministers of Punjab and Haryana met in Chandigarh on Friday to discuss greater coordination in the battle against drugs and agreed to hold an inter-state meeting of all the northern states on July 25.

The meeting will be hosted by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. He said this after meeting his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar at the latter’s office.

“Besides Haryana and Punjab, the Chief Ministers of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Delhi, as well as the Governor Jammu and Kashmir, the Delhi Lieutenant Governor and the Chandigarh Administrator are expected to join the second inter-state meeting on drugs”, said an official spokesperson.

Captain Amarinder Singh said after the meeting with Khattar that his government was committed to the total elimination of drugs, which are being smuggled into Punjab not just from across the borders, i.e., Pakistan but also from within the country. He also reiterated his government’s zero-tolerance policy against drugs.

Captain Singh tweeted the video of the meeting and said,  “Met with Haryana CM @mlkhattar to discuss greater coordination in the War against Drugs. Punjab will be hosting the 2nd Inter-State Meeting of all the northern states to deliberate on the same. My govt is committed to the total elimination of drugs being smuggled into Punjab.”

Met with Haryana CM @mlkhattar to discuss greater coordination in the War against Drugs. Punjab will be hosting the 2nd Inter-State Meeting of all the northern states to deliberate on the same. My govt is committed to the total elimination of drugs being smuggled into Punjab. pic.twitter.com/mP9FB9hWIF

— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) July 12, 2019

Khattar also tweeted a photo of the meeting and declared the date of the second meeting of the northern states against the increasing drug menace. He captioned the photo as, “Had a fruitful meeting with Punjab CM Shri @capt_amarinder ji to discuss enhanced coordination in the battle against the drug menace. The 2nd inter-state meeting of all Northern States will be held on 25th of July.”

Had a fruitful meeting with Punjab CM Shri @capt_amarinder ji to discuss enhanced coordination in the battle against the drug menace. The 2nd inter-state meeting of all Northern States will be held on 25th of July. pic.twitter.com/zxKp3tMuD4

— Manohar Lal (@mlkhattar) July 12, 2019

Prior to this, a meeting was held last April and the northern states had then decided to set up a centralised secretariat at Panchkula in Haryana. The nodal officers from each state were decided to be deputed at the secretariat for intelligence and information sharing.

The states had, in that meeting, agreed on a more proactive campaign to fight drugs on a joint platform, with faster sharing of information on drug trends, cases registered and persons identified or arrested.

The Haryana Chief Minister welcomed Captain Amarinder Singh and presented to him a copy of the Bhagavad Gita and a memento.