The British government has abandoned a planned agreement to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius, citing a lack of support from the United States after criticism from US President Donald Trump. Defence Minister Wes Streeting told the BBC that the deal could not be implemented in its present form because it did not have sufficient US backing.
Trump had initially approved the agreement but subsequently changed his position. After meeting Andy Burnham on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the US president described the arrangement as “furchtbar”, or “terrible”. Trump had also criticised the British approach to the strategically important territory.
At the centre of the dispute is Diego Garcia, the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago, where Britain and the United States jointly operate an airbase. Under the proposed agreement, Diego Garcia would have remained under British control for at least another 99 years. In return, Britain would have paid Mauritius a sum running into billions over the course of the arrangement.
The military base is regarded as strategically important for US military operations in the region and in relation to China’s ambitions to expand its influence in the Indian Ocean. The disagreement over the proposed transfer has therefore become a matter of concern between Britain and its US ally, with the future status of Diego Garcia forming the central issue in negotiations over the Chagos Archipelago.
Mauritius has claimed the Chagos Archipelago for decades. Britain separated the islands from the former British colony of Mauritius in 1965, three years before Mauritius became independent. The inhabitants of the islands were subsequently forcibly relocated, most of them to Mauritius.
The sovereignty dispute has also been addressed by international institutions. The International Court of Justice in The Hague and the United Nations General Assembly have supported Mauritius’s claim to the Chagos Archipelago.
The proposed agreement was intended to address that longstanding dispute while preserving British control of Diego Garcia because of its military significance. Its collapse, however, leaves the sovereignty issue unresolved and reflects the importance Britain has attached to securing US support for arrangements concerning the military base.
Streeting’s statement that the agreement cannot proceed “in its current form” indicates that the British government has rejected the existing arrangement rather than simply proceeding with the transfer despite Washington’s objections. The future of the Chagos Archipelago and the long-term status of Diego Garcia therefore remain unsettled.
