MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

PM Cameron meets Obama in March ahead of the Falklands conflict anniversary

Cameron and Obama will highlight the UK/US “special relationship”

British Prime Minister David Cameron and US President Barack Obama will meet in Washington next month, three weeks before the 30 anniversary of the beginning of the Falklands conflict.

PM Cameron will make an official visit to discuss Afghanistan, Iran and the Middle East as well as economic growth, the White House said.

During the official visit - scheduled for March 13-14 - the two leaders will also talk about the NATO and G8 summits that Obama will host in Chicago in May, the White House said.

Although the agenda does not include the Falklands/Malvinas issue, it may be debated due to Argentina’s international pressure that led to the request of the US to resume the dialogue over the Islands’ sovereignty.

Cameron's visit includes a state dinner and will “highlight the fundamental importance of the U.S.-U.K. special relationship and the depth of the friendship between the American people and the people of the United Kingdom, as well as the strong personal bond that has developed between the two leaders and their families,” according to a written White House statement.

Queen Elizabeth II hosted a state visit for Obama in Britain last May.

The US position on the Falklands/Malvinas dispute has not been of total UK satisfaction and is was extensively underlined by the British press. Only a few weeks ago a State Department described the dispute as a ‘bilateral issue’ to be worked out directly between Argentina and the UK.

“This is a bilateral issue that needs to be worked out directly between the governments of Argentina and the United Kingdom. We encourage both parties to resolve their differences through dialogue in normal diplomatic channels”, said the official State Department position adding that “we recognize de facto United Kingdom administration of the Islands but take no position regarding sovereignty”.

The statement was hailed as a diplomatic plus for Argentina in the current diplomatic dispute. However in 1982 support from the Ronald Reagan administration was decisive in ensuring the recapture of the Falklands by the British Task Force sent by then PM Margaret Thatcher.