Argentina and the UK will resume negotiations on a humanitarian mission on the Malvinas Islands, the countries’ foreign ministers have announced. They also agreed that flights to the islands from the city of Córdoba will be resumed.

Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino met with the UK’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy on Tuesday in New York, where both are attending the UN Summit. Argentina’s foreign ministry said that the negotiations had taken place “in the framework of a renewed stage for bilateral relations, characterized by dialogue and building trust.”

The pair discussed “a broad agenda of topics, including various issues relating to the South Atlantic,” according to the Foreign Ministry’s statement.

The ministers agreed that negotiations over humanitarian work on the islands, led by the International Red Cross, will be resumed. They will also organize a visit to the islands for relatives of soldiers who lost their lives in the Malvinas War by the end of 2024, so they can visit their graves. 

A weekly flight will depart for Mount Pleasant, on the Malvinas, from São Paulo, Brasil. Once a month, those flights will also stop in Córdoba, establishing an air connection between the islands and mainland Argentina.

The parties also agreed to cooperate on fisheries management.

“This arrangement comes at a good time in UK-Argentina relations, as we prepare to celebrate the bicentenary of diplomatic relations between our countries next year,” Kirsty Hayes, UK Ambassador to Argentina, told the Herald. “We believe that the announcement made by Foreign Secretary Lammy and Minister Mondino will lead to concrete progress in cooperation that will benefit Argentina, the UK and the Falkland islanders.”

“Better links with the islands will not only allow for tourist and commercial exchanges, but will also facilitate visits by veterans and family members wishing to pay tribute to their loved ones. In addition, we are very hopeful that the third phase of the humanitarian project to identify unidentified remains of the fallen will be as successful as the first two.”

Hayes added that exchanging scientific data on fish stocks would “adopt more sustainable models for the care of natural resources.”

Thirty years after the 1982 Malvinas war, after receiving a petition signed by several families, then-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner requested that the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) act as an intermediary between Argentina and the United Kingdom to identify the unknown soldiers buried in the Malvinas Islands. 

This proposal was the impetus for the Malvinas Humanitarian Project, proposed by the Argentine government and implemented in collaboration with the ICRC and the British government.

So far, 121 Argentine soldiers who lost their lives on the islands have been identified through the humanitarian work. The most recent, in June 2023, was Lance Corporal Jorge Eduardo López, who had been buried as an unknown soldier in Darwin Cemetery. 

Editorial disclaimer: Although the UK refers to the territory as the “Falklands Islands,” Argentina strongly contests this name. The Buenos Aires Herald uses “Malvinas” to refer to the islands.