On the 40th anniversary of the war, Argentine Foreign Minister Santiago Cafiero criticised the UK for "acting as if the dispute had been resolved".

In a column published in the English newspaper The Guardian, the Foreign Minister recalled that Buenos Aires and London negotiated for 16 years over the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands.

That dialogue, Cafiero pointed out, followed a 1965 UN resolution that recognised the existence of a dispute over the islands and urged the parties to resolve it through diplomatic channels.

During that period, the foreign minister recalled, "alternatives were explored to resolve the dispute, taking into account the interests of the inhabitants of the islands".

According to the Argentine official, these "were real negotiations on the substance of the matter: sovereignty".

For London, the 1982 conflict closed the way to dialogue, but Mr Cafiero rejects this position.

In The Guardian, the head of Argentine diplomacy says: "we believe that no outcome of any war can resolve a dispute recognised by the international community".

The war, says Cafiero, 'did not alter the nature of the dispute, which is still pending negotiation and resolution'.

Until there is a frank dialogue, the minister believes, the Argentine-British relationship will not be able to reach its full potential.