The Army is considering a proposal to re-open SiachenGlacier, the world's highest battlefield, in Ladakh for tourists, sources saidon Tuesday.

Mountaineering expeditions used to be allowed to Siachentill 1984 before the ice-clad high altitude region was militarized followingmachinations by Pakistan.

The sources said the proposal is being considered with allearnestness since it has come directly from Army Chief General Bipin Rawat butno concrete road map has yet been laid out in this direction.

"The remark was made by the Army chief during aclosed-door meeting recently. The chief said that he is thinking over aproposal to open the Siachen Glacier to people," a senior Army officialtold IANS.

The Siachen Glacier, which once used to be a demilitarizedzone, came under the strategic control of India in 1984 following 'OperationMeghdoot'.The operation had been launched by the Indian armed forces, under theleadership of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, after Pakistan allowed a Japaneseteam to undertake an expedition to a strategic peak in the glacier.

The peak directly overlooked the Aksai Chin, an area that isunder dispute between India and China.

Since the boundaries between India and Pakistan in theSiachen region were not properly defined in the Karachi Agreement of 1949,Pakistan used to send tourist expeditions to the glacier in the 70s and the80s. The Indian Army had also been allowing expeditions to Siachen in thelate-70s.

In June this year, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh,accompanied by General Rawat, had visited Siachen and praised the"tenacious resolve and unstinting commitment" of soldiers deployed inthe region.Singh had undertaken an aerial reconnaissance of the Siachen Glacierand interacted with troops at one of the forward posts.

The thought over opening the glacier to tourists has come ata time when Ladakh, where Siachen is located, is being carved into a UnionTerritory.

The Union government is working on a range of otherproposals to develop the Ladakh region after it was carved out as a separateentity from the state of Jammu and Kashmir. To revitalise health and medicaleducation in the Himalayan region, the central government on Monday announced anew medical college in Leh, the capital of Ladakh.