UK Ready to Renegotiate Deal on Chagos Islands

December 20, 2024

(3 Minutes Read)

The new government led by Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam backed away from the contentious deal. Ramgoolam stated that the negotiations had to be reopened as the draft deal did not offer adequate benefits to the nation.

The Chagos Islands, the Indian Ocean archipelago hosts the UK’s strategic military base in Mauritius. The UK and Mauritius governments had reached an agreement in October to transfer the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, a chain of more than 60 islands. Under the deal, Diego Garcia would remain under U.K. control for at least 99 years as the U.K.-U.S. naval and bomber base.

The treaty was reviewed after Mauritius ousted the old government that made the deal. The new government led by Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam backed away from the contentious deal. Ramgoolam stated that the negotiations had to be reopened as the draft deal did not offer adequate benefits to the nation. He informed Mauritius’ parliament that his government is open to fresh negotiations. Britain’s Foreign Office Minister Stephen Doughty said it was understandable that the new Mauritian government wants time to study the deal. He reiterated that the draft deal has been fair to both sides and has been supported across the national security architecture in the United States and by India. In the UK, the opposition criticized the deal while it was hailed by U.S. President Joe Biden. But supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump have slammed it.

The Chagos Islands have been under British control since 1814 and are one of the last remnants of the British Empire. The people were evicted from the Islands in the 1960s and 1970s so that the U.S. military base could be built the Diego Garcia. The base was used for U.S. military operations from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. Around 2,100 kilometres away from Mauritius, Chagos Islands is home to about 2,500 American personnel, for security operations in the Middle East, South Asia, and East Africa.