By IANS/EFE,
Buenos Aires : Argentina has criticised a plan by Britain to drill oil in the Falkland Islands.
Both countries have fought a brief war in 1982 for control of the islands that have been under British control since 1833.
The government “firmly rejects plans of the United Kingdom to authorise operations of exploration and extraction of hydrocarbons in the area of the Argentine continental shelf under illegitimate British occupation,” the foreign ministry said in a letter to a British diplomat Tuesday.
“It is a violation of our sovereignty. Argentina’s position is very clear. The law is very firm and we will take all necessary steps to defend and preserve our rights,” Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana said.
The foreign ministry said “this new British unilateral action” comes in addition to those that have take place earlier. In 2007, Buenos Aires repudiated a 1995 pact with Britain to cooperate on oil exploration in the Falklands, following a similar British action.
The letter was delivered to the British charge d’affaires in the absence of the ambassador. It urges the governments of Argentina and Britain to “renew negotiations in order to find a solution to the dispute as soon as possible”.