PRIME Minister Manmohan Singh's congratulatory message to President-elect Asif Ali Zardari, indeed, contains noble thoughts about turning the corner in Pakistan-India relations that "responds to the aspirations of our two people". There is little doubt that like anywhere else in the world most people in the two countries would like to have friendly ties with their neighbours to live in peace and harmony. But mutual trust that invariably serves as the bedrock of such an equation is woefully lacking between Pakistan and India, and that makes the development of a relationship of understanding improbable. A dispassionate assessment of what went wrong to create a climate of distrust would point a finger at the Indian leadership taking the helm soon after Partition. Unfortunately, the succeeding generations of leaders have continued to pursue the adversarial policies rather than look at the sources of tension and try to remove them. By far the biggest bone of contention is the Jammu and Kashmir state that India forcibly occupied and has stubbornly refused to vacate despite commitments enshrined in the UNSC resolutions and made directly to the occupied people that it would settle the matter in line with the wishes of the people expressed through a UN-sponsored plebiscite. But subsequently it stymied all attempts of UN representatives to hold a plebiscite. The two countries went to war more than once on this issue and the people rose in rebellion to get out of its clutches. New Delhi has not spared any repressive means to put down that freedom struggle, which remains alive despite the loss of more than 80,000 people. Against all canons of law and justice it is planning to build a large number of dams in Held Kashmir to deprive Pakistan, the lower riparian, of this vital ingredient of life. India should listen to the sincere voices in the country, like that of Arundhati Roy, who has pleaded with the leadership to recall the troops and let the issue be resolved in line with the people's wishes.