BUENOS AIRES, April 18 (Xinhua) -- 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 April 18-29, 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 in a statement.
Argentina rejects "in the strongest terms these military maneuvers in the illegitimately occupied Argentine territory, which constitute an unjustified show of force," the statement said.
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.
Argentina and Britain battled over the Malvinas Islands, also known to the Britons as the Falklands, from April 2 to June 14, 1982. ■
