But occasionally either of the two had never shied away from joining hands against the third to promote their common interests or two of them cooperating with each other for mutual advantage. Although their attitude towards each other is usually explained as a fight for protecting and promoting their respective states interests it is often influenced by the rulers political, economic or even family interests.

Nearly two years ago after the BJP government came to power in Himachal Pradesh, its Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal set an example of cooperation by concluding an agreement to help each other, at least partly, to overcome their power shortage problems. The agreement stipulated that during summers Himachal would supply power to Punjab which has been suffering from acute power shortage leading to drastic power cuts. On its part, Punjab will compensate Himachal Pradesh by supplying power during winters when the hill state's power requirement shoots up due to the extreme cold weather. Though no data about the working of the power exchange plan is readily available, particularly in view of Punjab's perennially acute power shortage problem, unconfirmed reports speak of the agreement, at least partially, working. The cooperation between the two states on the power issue cannot be attributed merely to the fact that their ruling parties — Akali Dal in Punjab and BJP in Himachal Pradesh — have very close relations and are also NDA's constituents. More than political, it is the compulsions of the two states economies which bound them into a cooperative knot.

The latest instance of cooperation between two states is provided by Punjab and Haryana, which are otherwise ruled by staunch opponents, Akali Dal and Congress respectively. Both Parkash Singh Badal and Bhupinder Singh Hooda have joined hands against the BJP-ruled Himachal Pradesh's demand for extension of the industrial package till 2013. Initially the package which allows excise duty waiver, income tax holidays and investment subsidies to industries in Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttarakhand was granted in 2003 for a period of ten years by the Vajpayee-led NDA government to promote industries in these economically backward hill states. However, the UPA government later decided to end the package in March 2010. But Himachal Pradesh government has been pressing the Centre to restore the package at least to its original date of 2013.

Both Badal and Hooda have not only written a joint letter to the Prime Minister but have also met him demanding either scrapping the package in March 2010 or extending similar tax sops to their states also. Their grouse is that fiscal incentives given to Himachal Pradesh have led to a mass exodus of industries from their states resulting in crippling of their industrial and economic growth. Punjab has even moved the Supreme Court against the tax incentives given by the Centre to the three states describing the measure as discriminatory.

The ruling leaderships of the three states irrespective of their political hues have, no doubt, often demonstrated a spirit of cooperation or have opposed each other for bilateral advantage.. They have, however, failed to show similar spirit of cooperation in resolving other inter-states issues which not only have affected their relations but have also often led to tensions between them. Although other states have also been grappling with inter-state issues, most of the issues confronting Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh are the legacy of Punjab's reorganization. For example, to start with, Chandigarh's future and territorial controversy as also river waters sharing issue were originally the two main disputes which became a sore point between Punjab and Haryana's relations. This is despite the fact that the Rajiv-Longowal accord evolved the formula for resolving these disputes. But neither Akali Dal nor the Centre worked to ensure implementation of the agreement.

The demand for the formation of a separate Haryana Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee is the latest to add to the list of controversies between Punjab and Haryana. The demand has been made by the HSGPC's ad hoc committee which, however, stands divided now because of the pressures of Punjab Akali Dal leaders. Akali leadership alleges that the Congress was interfering in the Sikhs religious affairs by including the demand for formation of HSGPC in its elections manifesto. The Hooda government says that it will take a decision on the issue as per law after examining the reports of Chatha Committee it had set up. Akali leadership's opposition to the formation of a separate HSGPC is in conflict with the demand of a large number of Haryana Sikhs for the formation of the Committee as they say that the Amritsar-based SGPC has been discriminating against Haryana which contributes large gurdwara funds to SGPC coffers. Besides, they argue that if Delhi can have a separate SGPC, why can't Haryana have one of its own?

Apart from the clashing interests of the three states which can be and should have been sorted out during the last four decades through a give-and- take approach, what also acts as roadblocks in resolving them are their successive ruling parties partisan and sometimes even business interests.

The inter-state controversies confronting the three states demand that their ruling leaderships, irrespective of their party affiliations adopt a constructive attitude to resolve the disputes without much delay as these have polluted the relations between them and adversely affected their economic growth. (IPA Service)