LONDON: Foreign Secretary David Cameron visited the Falkland Islands on Monday, the first visit in three decades by Britain’s top diplomat to the far-flung UK territory claimed by Argentina.

Cameron said he was visiting the South Atlantic archipelago, the centre of a Britain-Argentina war in 1982, to make clear they are “a valued part of the British family”.

Argentina’s new president, Javier Milei — who met Cameron last month in Davos — said recently he hopes to recover the islands diplomatically.

Ahead of the visit, Cameron dismissed that stance, saying sovereignty is non-negotiable while its residents wish to remain British.

“The Falkland Islands are a valued part of the British family,” he told Britain’s Press Association, which went with him to the archipelago 12,875 kilometers (8,000 miles) from Britain.

“And we are clear that as long as they want to remain part of the family, the issue of sovereignty will not be up for discussion.”