The Falkland Islands diplomatic row between Argentina and Britain, which started with the Argentine President Cristina Fernandez’s letter in the Guardian and the Independent, has heightened with The Sun publishing an advertisement in the Buenos Aires Herald, in which The Sun has urged the Argentine government sternly to keep its hands off of Falkland Islands.

PM David Cameron has maintained that the Falkland Islanders must decide their political and economic future. A referendum on the Falkland Islands’ political status is to be conducted in March.

The Sun’s advertisement in the Buenos Aires Herald, the English-language Argentine newspaper, voices that 649 Argentine and 255 British military personnel were killed in the 1982 Falkland Islands war. The Sun’s advertisement mentions that the 1982 Falkland Islands conflict was one that was waged to preserve the principle of self-determination.

The Sun’s Falkland Islands ad in the Argentine newspaper contests the Argentine claim to the islands and stresses that the British sovereignty over the islands dates back to 1765, even before the Argentine Republic existed. The Sun’s Falkland Islands advertisement concludes with the message that the Islanders will remain British until they elect to become Argentine nationals.

Meanwhile, political analysts in Argentina have responded to The Sun’s advertisement by saying generally that it was quite provocative and would only inflame passions in Argentina over the Falkland Islands, which are regarded as integral Argentine territories by mostly all Argentines.

Meanwhile, Cristina Fernandez’s open letter in the Guardian and the Independent voiced that the Falkland Islands must be handed over to Argentine sovereignty by the British government. The Argentina President urged PM David Cameron to honour a 1965 UN resolution to negotiate a solution to the Falkland Islands dispute.

The Sun’s Falkland Islands ad in the Argentine newspaper also opines that the 1982 Falkland Islands war, initiated by Argentina, was a direct infringement of the UN charter’s principle of self-determination.

The 1982 Falkland Islands conflict started with the Argentine invasion and occupation of the area but ended with the British military expulsion of the Argentine forces.