evidence: Beyond some public pronouncements addressing the popular aspirations of the Kashmiris, U.S. policy has demonstrated little understanding of the multi-layered and complex nature of the Kashmir conflict. The Jammu and Kashmir state, comprising Jammu, the Valley, and Ladakh (on the Indian side) and Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas (on the Pakistani side), is generally equated with the Kashmir Valley, and the Valley with Kashmiri Muslims. Little is known about the pluralism of the state—with its diverse communities of Gujjars, Bakkarwals, Kashmiri Pandits, Dogras, Ladakhi Buddhists and Shi’a Muslims—and even less is known about the political aspirations and political choices of those communities. The Kashmir issue has been viewed as a territorial dispute, or, at best, as the Kashmiris’ struggle for independence.