Argentina vows to gain ‘full sovereignty’ of the Falklands with ‘concrete action’ after Chagos deal

Foreign minister hails end to ‘outdated practices’ after Starmer’s deal to give up the Chagos Islands

Argentina has promised to gain “full sovereignty” of the Falkland Islands with “concrete action” after Britain surrendered control of the Chagos Islands.
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foreign minister, Diana Mondino, welcomed the step taken by Sir Keir Starmer’s Government on Thursday towards ending “outdated practices” after Britain returned the islands to Mauritius.
She promised “concrete action” to ensure that the Falklands – the British territory that Argentina calls the Malvinas and claims as its own – are handed to Buenos Aires.
In an intervention that will fuel rising criticism of the UK-Mauritius agreement, Ms Mondino said: “The long dispute between Britain and Mauritius came to a conclusion today, with Mauritians successfully regaining their territory of Chagos.
“We welcome this step in the right direction and the end to outdated practices.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 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.
The 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”.
Writing in The Telegraph, Robert Jenrick, the frontrunner to be new Tory leader, said: “This Labour Government has managed to capitulate in a matter of months, and snuck out their betrayal while parliament isn’t sitting to avoid scrutiny.”
Former foreign secretary James Cleverly described the move as “weak, weak, weak” while former security minister Tom Tugendhat, also writing in The Telegraph, suggested it risked allowing China to gain a military foothold in the Indian Ocean.