The UK has announced it is giving up sovereignty of a remote but strategically important cluster of islands in the Indian Ocean after more than half a century.
The deal – reached after years of negotiations - will see the UK hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a historic move.
This includes the tropical atoll of Diego Garcia, used by the US government as a military base for its navy ships and long-range bomber aircraft.
The announcement, made in a joint statement by the UK and Mauritian Prime Ministers, ends decades of often fractious negotiations between the two countries.
The US-UK base will remain on Diego Garcia – a key factor enabling the deal to go forward at a time of growing geopolitical rivalries in the region between Western countries, India, and China.
The deal is still subject to finalisation of a treaty, but both sides have promised to complete it as quickly as possible.
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Britain said it would give up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, but under what President Joe Biden called a "historic agreement," will keep a strategic Indian Ocean military base with the United States.
ReplyDeleteThe British government has been under pressure for decades to hand over the islands but has resisted because of the Diego Garcia base's key role for US operations in the Indian Ocean and Gulf.
"For the first time in more than 50 years, the status of the base will be undisputed and legally secure," the UK foreign ministry said. A joint British-Mauritius statement said the base would remain open on an "initial" 99-year lease.
The United Kingdom has agreed to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a deal to secure the operational future of the joint US-UK military facility on Diego Garcia, according to a joint statement by the UK and Mauritius published on Thursday.
ReplyDelete"Under the terms of this treaty the United Kingdom will agree that Mauritius is sovereign over the Chagos Archipelago, including Diego Garcia. At the same time, both our countries are committed to the need, and will agree in the treaty, to ensure the long-term, secure and effective operation of the existing base on Diego Garcia which plays a vital role in regional and global security," the joint statement said.