Argentine President Milai directs the start of arbitration proceedings to prevent Britain from developing oil and gas near the Falkland Islands

China News Service, Beijing, September 29. News from Buenos Aires: The Argentine Presidential Palace issued a statement on the 28th local time saying that Argentine President Milai has instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the government's legal team to initiate arbitration procedures stipulated in Annex VII of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to prevent the United Kingdom from developing oil and gas resources near the Malvinas Islands (referred to as the Falkland Islands) through the Sea Lion oil field project.

The statement said that Afghanistan has formally requested the UK to take measures within two weeks to prevent relevant oil and gas development activities. If the UK fails to act as required, Argentina will apply to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for interim measures to safeguard what Argentina calls its "sovereign rights on the continental shelf." Milai posted a message on social media that day to reiterate this deadline and said that he would take practical actions to defend Albania's sovereignty over the Falklands.

As of now, the British side has not made a public response to Afghanistan’s announcement on the 28th to start arbitration proceedings.

The Sea Lion oil field project is developed by Israel-based Navitas Petroleum Co., Ltd. and British Rockhopper Exploration Company and is located in the North Malvinas Basin. Milley criticized the project in his speech at the general debate of the United Nations General Assembly on the 23rd, calling on the UK to resume negotiations on the Falklands sovereignty dispute and resolve the dispute through peaceful means.

The British Permanent Mission to the United Nations responded to Milley's speech at the UN General Assembly on social media on the 23rd, saying that oil and gas development in the Falkland Islands is supervised by the island authorities in accordance with the law, and that Afghanistan's sanctions on the project are an attempt to exercise "extraterritorial jurisdiction."

Argentina and the United Kingdom have long-standing disputes over the Falklands sovereignty. The two countries went to war in 1982 over the Falklands sovereignty issue. Currently, the UK lists the Falklands as a British overseas territory, and Argentina also claims sovereignty over the Falklands.