THE unending violence plaguing the region has convinced world leaders that durable peace and calm in the region requires the resolution of various contentious issues, including the core dispute of Kashmir, between the two big powers of the Subcontinent, apart from taking care of other factors that give rise to the militant tendency. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is the latest figure to counsel both India and Pakistan to understand the reality in their own interest and resume composite dialogue to sort issues out. It is logical to assume that once their mutual animosity has ended on the removal of disputes, the forces that feel aggrieved at such rankling sores would lose their justification to exist and the two countries would wholeheartedly cooperate with each other to fight a common enemy. Mr Ban, who was on a visit of the countries of the region recently, also told a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York that he elicited commitments from the Pakistani leadership to extend the fullest cooperation to India in the investigation of last November's Mumbai terrorist attacks. In the meantime, the Pakistani response, seeking more information on the Mumbai episode, has not pleased India, which has taken the plea that it should ask for whatever it needs through official channels. Its Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma dismissed the Islamabad's request, saying that India had furnished a detailed account and accused it of deflecting the issue. He overlooks the point that naming individuals or organisations does not suffice; credible evidence of their involvement in the crime would have to be presented before a court of law to bring them to book. At the same time, India's leaders are levelling allegations against Pakistan for not doing enough. New Delhi would have to accept the fact that crimes of this nature cannot be unravelled with an attitude of dictation; they call for honest cooperation not only by any one party supposed to be involved but the other also that proffers the charges.