The deputy prime minister of Mauritius has suggested that negotiations with Britain over the future of the Chagos Islands will be delayed because of the amount of money involved.
Under the terms of the original agreement announced in October, the United Kingdom would cede sovereignty over the archipelago to Mauritius but retain a 99-year lease on Diego Garcia, home to a major British-American military air base.
Under the deal, the UK said it would provide a package of financial support to Mauritius, including annual payments and infrastructure investment, but neither side has said how much.
However, a new government in Mauritius, elected since the deal was first struck, has said it would like to see some changes.
The proposed agreement also drew criticism in the United Kingdom. The conservative Conservative Party called it a “monumental failure of statesmanship.”
When the agreement was first published after years of talks, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and then-Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth called it “a groundbreaking moment in our relationship and evidence of our enduring commitment to the peaceful resolution of disputes under the rule of law.” .
The aim was to end decades of uncertainty and disputes over the status of the islands.
In a joint statement released on Friday, Britain and Mauritius said they were committed to “concluding an agreement as soon as possible” that would ensure both the “safe and effective operation of the existing base on Diego Garcia and the sovereignty of Mauritius over the archipelago.” provide”.
They added that “ongoing conversations” were productive.
The new Mauritian government, elected in a landslide last month, has not publicly commented on the precise problems with the agreement.
But on Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Paul Bérenger spoke to his voters about the money at stake.
“This base existed on our land, on our territory… but it is not just about our sovereignty. There are some things that you cannot accept as a true patriot. They are trying to force us to sign. “They are arguing over a small amount,” he said.
Speaking about the negotiations in Parliament last week, Bérenger admitted that Mauritius “needs money to get out of the economic mess that the previous government got us into, but not at any price, not under any conditions.”
Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam told MPs on Friday that the UK was keen to finalize the deal “before (Donald) Trump is sworn in as president on January 20”.
Marco Rubio, Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, called the deal a threat to U.S. security.
Last week in the House of Commons, Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel accused the Labor government of jeopardizing the UK’s national security, ignoring the interests of the Chagossians and “free-falling our position in an increasingly dangerous world.” “.
“How much will the British taxpayer be liable for each year and in total over 99 years?” she asked.
Foreign Secretary Stephen Doughty insisted the agreement would improve rather than harm UK security, saying it would protect the base’s operations and ensure it was on a secure footing “well into the next century”.
In recent years, the United Kingdom has faced increasing diplomatic isolation over its claim to the so-called British Indian Ocean Territory, with various United Nations bodies – including the Supreme Court and the General Assembly – overwhelmingly siding with Mauritius and demanded that the United Kingdom hand it over. Some called it the “last colony in Africa.”
The government of Mauritius has long argued that it was illegally forced to cede the Chagos Islands in 1968 in return for its own independence from the United Kingdom.
Until recently, the UK insisted that Mauritius itself had no legitimate claim to the islands.
