The Government of Argentina will launch a campaign in India on Sunday demanding negotiation with the United Kingdom to settle the territorial dispute over the Islas Malvinas that are known as the Falkland Islands in the UK. The initiative, which comes two days after the visit of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, coincides with the 40th anniversary of the conflict between the UK and Argentina, which ended with the re-establishment of British control over the archipelago.
“The Commission for the Dialogue on the Question of the Malvinas Islands in India” will be launched by Santiago Cafiero, Argentina’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship. The Ministry of External Affairs has announced that Mr Cafiero is among the leading international figures scheduled to participate in the annual Raisina Dialogue.
In an article published on April 2 in The Guardian, Mr. Cafiero claimed that the dispute was not settled with the “cessation of hostilities” in 1982 and urged for resumption of bilateral dialogue. Argentina claims that the outcome of an armed conflict cannot settle a territorial dispute like the Malvinas/Falkland Islands.
Resume dialogue
“The Commission seeks to promote compliance with the resolutions of the United Nations and the declarations of other international fora on the Question of the Malvinas Islands, which call for the resumption of negotiations between Argentina and the United Kingdom,” declared a statement shared by the organisers of the event with The Hindu.
The members of the Commission will include former Union Minister Suresh Prabhu, BJP leader Shazia Ilmi, Congress Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor and veteran peacemaker Tara Gandhi Bhattacharjee. “India has been supportive of a negotiated settlement of the dispute for many years and we will continue to support that,” said Ms Ilmi who also referred to India’s historic role in achieving decolonisation in the Global South.
The event, however, has drawn attention as it is being organised just two days after the visit of the Premier Johnson, who travelled to Gujarat and held talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a broad range of bilateral and global issues including the war in Ukraine. The recent sinking of the Russian missile cruiser Moskva in the Black Sea drew parallels with similar incidents during the Falklands War which began on April 2, 1982 when the Argentine forces invaded the UK-controlled islands. The government of Margaret Thatcher had responded by sending a naval task force.
The 78-day long Falklands War was a unique event involving the United Kingdom and Argentina during the late Cold War period and left lessons in maritime warfare which gave the French Exocet missiles a legendary status. The French missile was used by Argentina to sink the Rpyal Navy’s HMS Sheffield in May 1982. As a post-colonial state, India has consistently supported a negotiated settlement to the Question of the Malvinas.
Informed official sources said they were aware of Argentina’s plans to flag the Falkland issue at the international level taking advantage of the 40th anniversary of the war but maintained that there was no official consultation with the Indian side regarding Argentina’s plan to start the Commission in India. “It is entirely an initiative from their side,” said a source.
The Falklands War remains an emotive issue both in the UK and Argentina primarily because it left hundreds of young military personnel dead on both sides. The war over the archipelago in the southern Atlantic Ocean as emerged as a cultural landmark of sorts and was recently part of the Season 4 of The Crown in Netflix where Gilian Anderson, playing the feisty PM Thatche,r asks – “How will it possibly end up well, if we do nothing?”
