WORLD / AMERICAS
Argentina condemns new British military exercises in South Atlantic
Published: Apr 19, 2022 04:45 PM
Photo taken on March 13, 2013 shows the general view of mills 44 meters high at the wind farm in the Sand Bay wind farm zone in Puerto Argentino, on the Malvinas Islands. The Malvinas Islands have a wind farm with 6 mills generating 33 percent of the electricity consumed by the residents. (Xinhua/Martin Zabala)

Photo taken on March 13, 2013 shows the general view of mills 44 meters high at the wind farm in the Sand Bay wind farm zone in Puerto Argentino, on the Malvinas Islands. The Malvinas Islands have a wind farm with 6 mills generating 33 percent of the electricity consumed by the residents. (Xinhua/Martin Zabala)

Argentina condemned on Monday Britain's military exercises in the area of the Malvinas Islands, a territory in the South Atlantic that the South American country claims as its own but is now controlled by Britain.

Britain is once again carrying out military maneuvers in the area of the Malvinas Islands on Monday-April 29, involving "British forces stationed in the Malvinas Islands from the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment and the illegitimate defense forces of the islands, along with Royal Navy and Royal Air Force troops, as part of the illegal UK occupation of the Malvinas Islands," the Argentine Foreign Ministry said.

Argentina rejects "in the strongest terms these military maneuvers in the illegitimately occupied Argentine territory, which constitute an unjustified show of force," the ministry said in a statement.

The exercises also deviate "from the calls of the numerous resolutions of the United Nations and other international organizations, which urge both Argentina and the UK to resume negotiations to find a peaceful and lasting solution to the sovereignty dispute in the question of the Malvinas Islands," the statement added.

The Argentine government reaffirmed its "sovereignty over the Malvinas Islands," and reiterated its willingness to resume negotiations to resolve the dispute.

A spokesman for the UK Foreign Office was quoted as saying by BBC that the exercises were routine, taking place at least twice a year, and had been carried out for many years.

Xinhua