Argentine President Javier Milei has every right to reassert his country’s territorial claims over the Falkland Islands. His proposal to use the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration as a template for resolving the Falkland Islands dispute merits serious consideration as a pragmatic framework for bringing this long-standing territorial conflict to a peaceful conclusion.

Argentina’s claim to what its citizens call the Islas Malvinas rests on solid foundations. Upon independence from Spain in 1816, Argentina inherited sovereignty over the islands under territorial succession. Argentina arguably exercised governmental authority over the archipelago between 1820 and 1833, appointing officials and raising its flag.

The islands lie 480km (300 miles) from the Argentine mainland, while sitting 13,000km from Britain – a relic of empire sustained by military might rather than natural association.