New Delhi: Manmohan Singh became the first Indian prime minister to visit the world's highest battlefield -- the Siachen Glacier, reports said on Sunday.

Singh flew into Siachen in a military helicopter to meet Indian troops on the 6,300-metre-high glacier, which is at the crossroads of territory claimed by Pakistan, India and China, it reported.

He shook hands with the soldiers and thanked them for their service on the glacier, where they have to deal with sub-zero temperatures, altitude sickness and hostile fire. Discuss: India must not give up Siachen glacier

"Now time has come that we make efforts that this battlefield is converted into a peace mountain," he said, referring to talks under way with Pakistan to end decades of hostility between them.

The 72-year-old Singh, who winds up a three-day visit to northern and northeastern Kashmir on Sunday, underwent a health check before travelling to the region where the high altitude can cause sickness and even death.

Thousands of Pakistani and Indian troops are eyeball-to-eyeball atop the glacier, but more troops have died from the icy temperatures, high altitude and accidents than from enemy fire.

India occupied most of Siachen in 1984 and a bloody clash erupted in 1987 between India and Pakistan to win supremacy over the glacier. Singh's trip comes after India and Pakistan held talks on de-militarising the glacier. There has, however, been little progress.

The talks were part of a wider peace process between the neighbours, which have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947 -- two of them over Kashmir.

They agreed to a ceasefire in November 2003 along the Siachen front and the rest of their borders. Analysts say Siachen has lost much of its strategic value since the two countries tested nuclear weapons in May 1998.

In his speech, Singh ruled out any change in India's existing boundaries. "We feel these boundaries are important not only for our security but it relates to the country's prestige also. For this prestige, Indian soldiers are happily bearing difficulties here," he said.

He called for efforts to create an environment of peace "wherein nobody feels any threats and there is no scope for conflicts and this place becomes an example of peace."

Last year President Abdul Kalam visited the region, becoming the first Indian head of state to do so.