London. The United Kingdom agreed to hand Mauritius sovereignty over the disputed Chagos Islands, an archipelago of more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean, as part of an agreement to guarantee the future of a strategically important British-US military base located there.
The agreement guarantees the continuity of the vital military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands, said British Foreign Secretary David Lammy. The base, where there are about 2,500 soldiers, mostly American, has been part of military operations such as the war that began in 2003 in Iraq and the prolonged war in Afghanistan.
Without a deal, the base’s secure activity would have been threatened by legal and sovereignty disputes, the British Labor government said, involving cases in several courts and tribunals. As part of the agreement, the United Kingdom will retain sovereignty over Diego Garcia for an initial period of 99 years.
“It will strengthen our role in safeguarding global security, ending any possibility of the Indian Ocean being used as a dangerous illegal immigration route to the United Kingdom, as well as ensuring our long-term relationship with Mauritius, a close partner of the Commonwealth,” Lammy added.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke with his Mauritian counterpart, Pravind Jugnauth, on Thursday morning, according to a spokesman for the British president.
The agreement has strong support from international partners such as the United States, the British government said in a statement.
The pact will have to be included in a treaty and depends on the completion of the various legal processes. Both sides have committed to doing so as quickly as possible.
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