Falklands Dispute:
“The Commission for Dialogue” with the United Kingdom on the Falkland Islands was recently inaugurated by India and Argentina.
- The commission seeks to settle the territorial dispute over the Islas Malvinas that are known as the Falkland Islands in the UK.
- The British, in 1765, were the first to settle West Falkland, but they were driven off in 1770 by the Spanish.
- The British outpost on West Falkland was restored in 1771 after threat of war, but then the British withdrew from the island in 1774 for economic reasons, without renouncing their claim to the Falklands.
- Spain maintained a settlement on East Falkland (which it called Soledad Island) until 1811.
- In 1820 the Argentina Government, which had declared its independence from Spain in 1816, proclaimed its sovereignty over the Falklands.
- However, in 1841, a British civilian lieutenant governor was appointed for the Falklands.
- In February 1982, Argentina’s military government invaded the Falklands. This act started the Falkland Islands War.
- The war ended with the surrender of the Argentine forces at Stanley to British troops who had forcibly reoccupied the islands.
- In a referendum held in March 2013, islanders voted nearly unanimously to remain a British overseas territory.
- Despite wars and discussions at the United Nations, the issue of sovereignty remains a point of contention.
Location:
Falkland islands are an overseas territory of the United Kingdom located to the southwest Atlantic Ocean at the southernmost point of South America.
Positioned both in the southern and western hemispheres of the Earth.
They are also called Malvinas Islands.
