UK Cedes Island To Mauritius, Retains Diego Garcia Airbase

Photo: Reuters/Ho/U.S. Navy

LONDON/PORT LOUIS, (REUTERS) – Britain said on October 3 it would cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a deal it said secured the future of the UK-U.S. Diego Garcia military base, and which could also pave the way for people displaced decades ago to return home.

It is a region where India and China are in a contest of influence. 

President Joe Biden welcomed the deal, saying it would secure the effective operation of Diego Garcia, a strategically important airbase in the Indian Ocean, into the next century.

Biden said, “It enables the United States to support operations that demonstrate our shared commitment to regional stability, provide rapid response to crises.”

But critics in Britain said it was a capitulation which played into the hands of China, which has close trade ties with Mauritius, while one group representing displaced Chagos Islanders expressed anger they had been shut out of talks.

British Foreign Minister David Lammy said the deal settled the contested sovereignty of the islands, the last British overseas territory in Africa, while ongoing legal challenges had imperiled the long-term future of the Diego Garcia.

He said the base, whose strategic significance was demonstrated during the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts where it acted as a launch pad for long-range bombers, was now guaranteed for at least 99 years.