Mauritius PM resumes talks with UK on Chagos Islands deal | News
The prime minister of Mauritius says he has submitted “counter-proposals” to the UK to the Chagos Islands agreement.
A historic deal by the UK to hand control of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius has been called into question after the African island nation’s new prime minister made “counter-proposals”.
The British government still plans to hand control of the roughly 60-island chain to Mauritius on the condition that a strategic joint British-American military base on the largest of the islands, Diego Garcia, would remain under British control for at least 99 years Years.
Mauritius Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam, who took office last month, said on Tuesday he would resume negotiations because the current offer “would not bring the benefits that the nation might expect from such an agreement.”
Ramgoolam told MPs in Mauritius’ parliament that his government was “still willing to conclude an agreement with the UK” and had put forward counter-proposals.
British Overseas Territories Secretary Stephen Doughty said on Wednesday he was confident the deal would be finalized and it was “completely understandable” that the new Mauritian government was seeking time to consider the details.
“I am confident that we have agreed a good and fair deal that is in the interests of both sides,” he told MPs in the House of Commons. “It protects the base at a reasonable cost. It was supported across the national security architecture of the United States and India.”
The opposition Conservatives in Britain have accused the government of giving up sovereignty over a British territory.
US President Joe Biden praised the agreement as “historic” and emphasized its importance for the future of the US naval base on Diego Garcia. However, supporters of US President-elect Donald Trump have criticized the deal.
The base, which houses about 2,500 American military personnel, has been described as “a near-indispensable platform” for security operations in the Middle East, South Asia and East Africa.
The Chagos Islands have been under British control since 1814. In the 1960s and 1970s, Britain forcibly evicted nearly 2,000 locals to make room for the U.S. military base, which played a central role in U.S. military operations in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2008, the US also admitted that the base was used for covert rendition flights of “terrorism” suspects.
The displaced Chagossians have been fighting for years in British courts for the right to return to their homeland. Under the terms of the new agreement, she and her descendants would be allowed to return to the islands, although they would be excluded from Diego Garcia.
Mauritius, an African country, is located about 2,100 kilometers (1,300 miles) southwest of the Chagos Islands off the east coast of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean.
