London, 4 March 2023 (TDI): The United Kingdom’s (UK) Ministers have expressed disappointment at the unilateral decision of Argentina to withdraw from the Foradori-Duncan 2016 pact.
The UK government has called for fresh talks on Falklands sovereignty. Argentinian Foreign Minister, Santiago Cafiero met James Cleverly, Foreign Secretary of the UK at the sidelines of the G20 summit in India.
The Argentinian Foreign Minister informed James Cleverly about their decision of ending the cooperation.
The withdrawal news faced backlash and Foreign Secretary Cleverly asserted that Falklands were British and will continue to enjoy this status. Minister David Rutley also disapproved of Bueno Aires’s decision.
He called the tearing up of the agreement, a move to bring discomfort to families killed in the 1982 war. Argentina, the UK, and the Falklands had all mutually benefitted from the agreement.
The unilateral decision will disrupt the peace agreement between the stakeholders. At the G20 summit, the Argentine Foreign Minister announced that his government was ending the agreement.
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Following the meeting, James Cleverly stated that “The Falkland Islands are British. Islanders have the right to decide their own future – they have chosen to remain a self-governing UK Overseas Territory.”
Argentina and Britain are the major two contending parties claiming their sovereignty over the Falklands islands. Argentina took control of the islands, Las Malvinas as it calls it, on 2 April 1982.
The Invasion was the first of its kind in long decades that a British Foreign Territory was invaded by a foreign counterpart.
However, within three months of the invasion, the British Forces took back the islands. Global defense analysts referred to recapturing of islands as “a military impossibility.”
During the conflict, 255 British servicemen, three islanders, and 649 Argentine personnel were killed.
In 2022, the then-Defense Procurement Minister, Jeremy Quin assured Falklands of British Government support, protection, and right to self-determination.
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