Argentina has vowed to gain “full sovereignty” of the Falkland Islands after the UK gave up control of a remote archipelago in return for securing the future of a strategically important military base.
The country’s foreign minister, Diana Mondino, welcomed the step taken by Sir Keir Starmer’s Government on Thursday towards ending “outdated practices” after Britain returned the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
She promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands – the British-controlled archipelago that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own – are handed to Buenos Aires.
In an intervention that will fuel rising Tory criticism of the UK-Mauritius agreement and its perceived implications for other overseas territories, Ms Mondino said: “The long dispute between Britain and Mauritius came to a conclusion today, with Mauritians successfully regaining their territory of Chagos.
See below a press statement from the #Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly on the recent announcement of the #Chagos sovereignty exercise.#FalklandIslands pic.twitter.com/W3R2w941Bt
— Falkland Islands Legislative Assembly (@FIAssembly) October 3, 2024
“We welcome this step in the right direction and the end to outdated practices. Following the path we have already taken, with concrete actions and not empty rhetoric, we will recover full sovereignty over our Malvinas Islands.
“The Malvinas were, are and will always be Argentine.”
In a statement earlier on Thursday, Falklands governor Alison Blake sought to reassure residents that Britain’s commitment to the South Atlantic territory was “unwavering”.
She said the historical context of the two territories was “very different”.
The UK Government said earlier it had reached a political agreement with Mauritius over the Chagos Islands, also known as the British Indian Ocean Territory, following negotiations which began in 2022.
Mauritius will assume sovereignty over the archipelago while the joint US-UK military base remains on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands.
The Foreign Office said the agreement means the status of the base will be undisputed and legally secure.
US President Joe Biden welcomed the “historic” agreement and said it secures the “effective operation of the joint facility into the next century”.
Reaction to the deal was mixed, with some hailing the end to a bitter and long-running dispute over Britain’s last African colony but others, including Tory leadership candidates, suggested it could undermine UK security.
Human rights campaigners, who have called for full reparations to generations affected by the forcible displacement of islanders, argued the deal does not go far enough to address the wrongs of the past.
Chagossians were forced to leave the central Indian Ocean territory by 1973 to make way for the military base.
La larga disputa entre Gran Bretaña e Islas Mauricio llegó hoy a una conclusión, y los mauricianos lograron recuperar su territorio de Chagos. Este hito implica terminar con la última colonia inglesa en África.
Celebramos este paso en la dirección correcta y terminar con…
— Diana Mondino (@DianaMondino) October 3, 2024
The expulsions are regarded as one of the most shameful parts of Britain’s modern colonial history and Chagossians have spent decades fighting to return to the islands.
The United Nations’ highest court, the International Court of Justice, previously ruled the UK’s administration of the territory was “unlawful” and must end.
Meanwhile, the shadow of the Falklands war hands over UK-Argentine relations, with Buenos Aires invading in 1982 and claiming it inherited the islands from Spain in the 1800s.
The conflict resulted in 655 Argentinian, 255 British and three Falkland deaths before British forces regained control.
A joint statement from the UK and Mauritius governments said the new deal will be subject to a treaty that will “address wrongs of the past and demonstrate the commitment of both parties to support the welfare of Chagossians”.
The agreement over the continued UK-US military presence on Diego Garcia is expected to run for 99 years with an option to renew, with Britain paying a regular annual sum of money.
Overseas territories minister Stephen Doughty refused to spell out how much the deal would cost the British taxpayer, saying “full details will be set out in due course”.
A group of asylum seekers have been living on Diego Garcia since 2021 after they encountered difficulties while trying to travel by boat from Sri Lanka to Canada.
The British Indian Ocean Territory has been considering their claims for protection.
Mauritius would be responsible for any future arrivals under the new agreement.
Conservative former minister and frontrunner in the race to succeed Rishi Sunak, Robert Jenrick, said: “It’s taken three months for Starmer to surrender Britain’s strategic interests.”
Former foreign secretary James Cleverly described the move as “weak, weak, weak” while former security minister Tom Tugendhat suggested it risked allowing China to gain a military foothold in the Indian Ocean.
“With Chinese influence and presence expanding in Africa and the Middle East at an alarming rate, as well as Iran threatening to escalate military action in the region, it is even more reckless to surrender control of this geopolitical asset,” he wrote in the Daily Telegraph.
“China has cosied up to Mauritius in recent years, signing a free trade agreement in 2019 and nancing 47 development projects on the island.”
