The inaugural of “The Commission for Dialogue” with the United Kingdom on the Falkland Islands has run into rough weather as members of the commission from the BJP declined to attend the event after the party expressed uneasiness over the launch just two days after hosting U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Launching the Commission here on Sunday, Foreign Minister of Argentina Santiago Cafiero acknowledged India’s traditional support for resolving the “territorial dispute” and said, “Argentina and India share same anti–colonial heritage and values”.
Mr. Cafiero declared launch of the Commission in the presence of a large number of envoys based here. However, former Union Minister and BJP leader Suresh Prabhu, who was scheduled to appear at the event, stayed away. “I am currently travelling to the United States to visit several universities and speaking there. I am not thus obviously part of this event as reported,” he said in a social media message in response to The Hindu’s story of Sunday.
BJP spokeperson Shazia Ilmi, whose name appeared in the list of members of the Commission, made a brief appearance before the launch of the formal segment but did not stay for the actual launch of the Commission.
Addressing the inaugural event, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said India has been a votary of negotiated settlement over the Falkland Islands over which Argentina and the U.K. had fought a landmark war in 1982. Mr. Tharoor, a member of the Commission, referred to India’s leading role in decolonising the Global South and said, “India supports resolution of intractable disputes through dialogue.”
Speaking at the event, Mr. Cafiero acknowledged the “brotherhood between India and Argentina” and urged the U.K. and the international community to declassify the records of the 1982 Falklands War as that would shed new light on the record of the U.K.
“[The] U.K. exposed the entire South Atlantic region by transporting nuclear weapons in the region. The nuclear weapons that the U.K. transported during the war equalled to 20 Hiroshimas,” said Mr. Cafiero
Mr. Cafiero told The Hindu that India is expected to support Argentina in various global platforms including the Security Council. “There is no place for colonialism in the 21st century and we are very happy to find support from India at the launch of the Commission here,” said Mr. Cafiero who met External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar ahead of the launch of the Commission. Mr. Cafiero will participate in the annual Raisina Dialogue during from April 25 to 27.
