British Foreign Secretary David Cameron will visit the Falkland Islands in a high-profile demonstration they are a “valued part of the British family” amid renewed Argentinian calls for talks on the future of the islands they call Islas Malvinas.
Cameron’s visit will be the first by a British Cabinet minister since 2016 and he stressed that the issue of the archipelago’s sovereignty is “not … up for discussion” while the islanders wish to be British.
After their meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Foreign Office said the pair had a “warm and cordial meeting” and on the issue of the Falklands “they would agree to disagree, and do so politely.”
Ahead of his trip to the South Atlantic, Cameron said: “The Falkland Islands are a valued part of the British family, and we are clear that as long as they want to remain part of the family, the issue of sovereignty will not be up for discussion.
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“The Falkland Islanders should be proud of the modern, prosperous community they have built.
“The islands are a thriving economy, where as well as farming and fishing, there is a priority given to conservation and sustainability.”
The Falklands, some 13,000 kilometres from Britain and 500km from mainland Argentina, were the subject of a bloody conflict in 1982.
The war claimed the lives of 255 British servicemen, three islanders and 649 Argentinian personnel.
In a 2013 referendum, the islanders voted overwhelmingly to retain their status as a UK overseas territory.
On his visit, Cameron will pay his respects to the British forces who served and those who lost their lives during the conflict in 1982 and thank the UK personnel based on the islands today.
He will also meet leaders of the Falkland Islands government during a visit to the capital Stanley and other sites around the overseas territory.
Cameron will also visit environmental projects and see some of the penguins that depend on the vital island habitats.
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He is expected to travel to the Falklands before visiting Paraguay, the first time a British foreign secretary has travelled to the South American nation.