TNAG-0926-FCO40-1144-Future-of-the-Dependent-Territories-1980 — Page 208

DSR 11 (Revised)

DRAFT: minute/letter/teleletter/despatch/note

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TEL. NO:

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CAVEAT...

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SUBJECT:

А.

You ask about the Falkland Islands. I can assure you that

the British Government are in no doubt about their

sovereign rights over the Falkland Islands and Dependencies. Successive British Governments have consistently made their views clear, to the Argenting and others.

You may rest assured that in the search for a solution to this long-standing and complex problem no settlement will be reached without the agreement of the Islanders who have been and will continue to be fully consulted about developments Affecting their future. You refer also to an Argentine mission on one of the Islands. probably thinking of Argentina's scientific station on Southern Thule near the Antarctic Circle. We have protested to the Argentin about their presence on this island and, in so doing, have protected British sovereignty there.

You are

I enclose a fact sheet on the Falkland Islands which may be of interest. You will be pleased to see that a permanent airfield was completed in the Islands in 1979 using British aid funds.

B

If

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