The UK’s agreement to turn up the Chagos Islands, where a joint US-UK military station is located, to Mauritius will be discussed with US President-elect Donald Trump.
In October, the UK declared it will give up sovereignty of the Indian Ocean archipelago but keep control of the base on Diego Garcia, the largest island, for 99 years.
According to the BBC, attempts were made to have the pact signed prior to Trump’s inauguration on Monday, and the agreement was anticipated to be approved by the Mauritius cabinet on Wednesday.
However, a person from Mauritius who was involved in the negotiations told the BBC that “overnight the British position changed”.
Although the Biden administration had already approved the contract, the UK prime minister’s office announced on Wednesday that the new Trump administration will now “consider” it.
It is “perfectly reasonable for the US administration to consider the detail” of any arrangement, according to a spokesperson for Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
However, the prime minister was “completely humiliated” by the recent development, according to shadow foreign secretary Priti Patel, because Labour had been “desperate to sign off on the surrender of the Chagos Islands before President Trump returns to office.”
The “historic agreement” was hailed by President Biden in October as securing the continuation of a base that “plays a vital role in national, regional, and global security.”
Whether Trump’s government would object is uncertain. The new president has not discussed the agreement in public.
But according to Marco Rubio, the new US Secretary of State, it presents a “serious threat” since it cedes the islands to a nation that supports China. China and Mauritius have a trade agreement.
Nigel Farage, a Trump supporter and leader of Reform UK, stated that he thought the deal would harm Sir Keir’s ties with the US president-elect.
“I believe the unique relationship will be shattered in a way that cannot be repaired during this administration when the Americans realize that… Diego Garcia, their most significant military base in the world, may effectively be rendered pretty useless.”
However, Sir Keir defended the agreement during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, pointing out that the talks had begun during the previous Tory administration. He maintained that the agreement was the greatest means of protecting the military installation.
While attending a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Mauritian Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam was rumored to sign an agreement. However, it was later revealed that his attorney general was heading to London to resume negotiations.
In order to make room for the Diego Garcia base, the UK expelled the more than 1,000 residents of Mauritius, its former colony, from the Chagos Islands, also known as the British Indian Ocean Territory, in 1965.
The UN’s top court said in an advisory opinion that the UK’s management of the territory is “illegal,” and Mauritius, which gained independence from the UK in 1968, has insisted that the islands belong to it.
The prime minister was “negotiating a secret deal to surrender British territory and taxpayers in this country will pay for the humiliation,” according to Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch.
Badenoch stated that there was “no way we should be giving up British territory in Chagos” and that Sir Keir was “rushing a deal which will be disastrous” at a cost of billions of pounds to British taxpayers.
The planned deal’s price to the UK has not yet been formally disclosed.
Sir Keir told PMQs that the proposed deal would guarantee the military facility on Diego Garcia could continue to function efficiently in response to Badenoch.
What I discovered on the secluded tropical island that they would want you not to see
Hundreds demonstrate against the Chagos Islands agreement
A mother tries to raise her kids normally on a secret military island.
Chagossians complain that they have no say in the UK’s agreement to turn over the islands.
After years of discussions, an agreement over the Chagos Islands was first announced in October.
However, a few weeks after winning the election, Mr. Ramgoolam expressed his disapproval of the proposed treaty and requested an impartial assessment.
The agreement will “address wrongs of the past and demonstrate the commitment of both parties to support the welfare of Chagossians,” according to a joint statement released in October by Mauritius and the United Kingdom.
Some of the Chagos islanders live in Mauritius and the Seychelles, while others reside in Crawley, Sussex, and they all have different opinions about what should happen to their country.
The agreement has drawn criticism from others who claim they were not consulted during the discussions.
Mauritius will be able to start a relocation program on the Chagos Islands under the proposed agreement, but not on Diego Garcia.
In the past, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has downplayed the criticism, claiming that it is a “very good deal” for “our national security” because it established the Diego Garcia military base’s legal foundation.
Diplomats said Wednesday that the UK would not want its first engagement to be a dispute over islands in the Indian Ocean, therefore it made sense to halt the pact until the Trump administration could review it.
Accepting the initial agreement, which was approved by the Biden administration as well as US military and intelligence organizations, gave the Diego Garcia’s legal standing more stability.
However, the extent to which the new arrangement may allow China to gain a strategic footing in the islands remained a matter of debate inside the US establishment.
Trump’s actions, the advice he may receive in office, and whether he would have time to think about a problem that is viewed as secondary to the battles in the Middle East and Ukraine are all unknown.
