In recent times, the exchange of heated words between India and Pakistan at the UN and elsewhere on J&K, and PoJK, and the Indus Waters Treaty has intensified. This is a natural corollary of the two nations’ high-profile confrontation during Operation Sindoor - launched after the Pahalgam massacre last year - but the real issue at stake is how this narrative translates for the people of this Himalayan region. It is unlikely that India or Pakistan will ever agree on the status of Jammu and Kashmir on the two sides of the Line of Control ( LoC). The only people who can make this statement in the loudest and clearest terms are leaders of Jammu and Kashmir.