An Agniveer soldier died in the line of duty in Siachen due to a medical condition linked to high altitude, the Army’s Leh-headquartered Fire and Fury Corps said on Sunday.

Operator Gawate Akshay Laxman, a resident of Maharashtra, is the first Agniveer to have laid down his life. He was deployed in the world’s highest battlefield Siachen.

“Quartered in snow silent to remain, when the bugle calls they shall rise and march again. All ranks of Fire and Fury Corps salute the supreme sacrifice of #Agniveer (Operator) Gawate Akshay Laxman, in the line of duty, in the unforgiving heights of #Siachen and offer deepest condolences to the family,” the Leh-based HQs 14 Corps wrote on X.

The Indian Army in a message on social media post also said that it stands firm with the Laxman’s family in this hour of grief.

“General Manoj Pande (COAS) and All Ranks of the Indian Army salute the supreme sacrifice of Agniveer (Operator) Gawate Akshay Laxman, in the line of duty, in the unforgiving heights of Siachen. The Indian Army stands firm with the bereaved family in this hour of grief,” the Indian Army wrote.

The Siachen glacier, situated near the Indo-Pak Line of Control in the Karakoram range is known as the highest militarised zone in the world where soldiers have to battle frostbite and high winds. Standing at 5,400 metres in height, it is the largest glacier in India and the second-largest in the world The temperatures here dip to as low as – 45 degree celsius, thus makes it inhospitable for humans to stay over extended periods of time.

Nearly a thousand soldiers have died guarding Siachen since the Indian Army took control of the glacier in April 1984, almost twice the number of lives lost in the 1999 Kargil war.

According to the earlier data presented in the Lok Sabha, a total of 869 soldiers including 33 officers and 54 junior commissioned officers have died serving at the glacier between 1984 and December 2015, Additionally in 2016, 10 soldiers were killed due to an avalanche that struck their post at an altitude of 20,500 feet in the glacier. Meanwhile, the number of deaths at Siachen had declined steadily, from 24 in 2011 to 11 in 2015, the data revealed.

According to news agency PTI, former defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said said nine army personnel lost their lives in 2008 followed by 13 in 2009, 50 in 2010 and 24 in 2011. Twelve army personnel had died in 2012, 11 in 2013 and eight in 2014.

However, the Pakistan army, which operates at much lower altitudes, lost 213 soldiers in Siachen between 2003-10. In 2012, 130 Pakistani soldiers were killed in an avalanche.

Laxman’s death comes days after Agniveer Amritpal Singh died by suicide in the Poonch sector. He shot himself while on sentry duty.

The Agniveer Scheme was announced in June 2022 for recruitment in the armed forces. The scheme is meant only for recruiting soldiers and not officers in the forces. The soldiers recruited under this Agneepath scheme are known as Agniveers.