The ancient trade route over the Himalayan passes of Hunderman once brought communities together, but the rugged peaks are now used as fortifications by nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan.
Indian apricot farmer Ghulam Ahmad, 66, separated from his parents as a teenager in the chaos of war that saw control of his village swap from Pakistan to India, dreams of seeing his mother’s grave.
If the crossing was open, it would be a day’s trek of 50 kilometres (30 miles) to Pakistani territory.
But to visit the site now requires a roundtrip of some 2,500 kilometres (1,550 miles), visa permission that is hard to obtain, and expenses he cannot afford.
“What can we do?” said Ahmad. “Many here have died without meeting, only in hope of meeting.” India and Pakistan have only one tightly restricted border point where people can cross, in Punjab state far to the south, but few do so.
The rivals, who both celebrate their 77th independence day this week, have fought three major wars and countless border conflicts since they were partitioned out of the Indian subcontinent in 1947.
They remain bitterly at odds over control of the restive territory of Kashmir, divided between the two countries and claimed in full by both.
