File photo of fuel tanks at the edge of a miltary airstrip on Diego Garcia, largest island in the Chagos archipelago and site of a major United States military base in the middle of the Indian Ocean leased from Britain in 1966.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Britain’s government said Thursday (October 3, 2024) it agreed to hand sovereignty of the long-contested Chagos Islands, an archipelago of more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean, to Mauritius, in a deal that secures the future of a strategically important U.K.-U.S. military base there.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the agreement secures the vital military base at Diego Garcia, the largest in the chain of islands, for the future.

The U.K. government said without the deal the secure operation of the military base would be under threat, with contested sovereignty and legal challenges, including through various international courts and tribunals. As part of the deal, the U.K. will retain sovereignty of Diego Garcia for an initial period of 99 years.

“It will strengthen our role in safeguarding global security, shut down any possibility of the Indian Ocean being used as a dangerous illegal migration route to the U.K., as well as guaranteeing our long-term relationship with Mauritius, a close Commonwealth partner,” Mr. Lammy said.

The deal was strongly supported by international partners including the U.S., British officials said.

The agreement will have to be signed off in a treaty and is dependent on legal processes being finalized. Both sides have committed to complete this as quickly as possible.

The Chagos Islands have been at the heart of what Britain calls the British Indian Ocean Territory since 1965 when they were siphoned away from Mauritius, a U.K. territory that gained independence three years later.

The U.S. Navy base at Diego Garcia was built in the 1970s and provides what American authorities have described as “an all but indispensable platform” for security operations in the Middle East, South Asia and East Africa.

Around 1,500 inhabitants from the Chagos Islands were displaced to make way for the U.S. base. It’s unclear immediately whether they and their descendants, who are mainly living in the U.K., Mauritius and the Seychelles, will have a right to return.

In a statement, the White House said President Joe Biden applauded the “historic agreement” on the status of the Chagos Islands. It called the Diego Garcia base vital in preserving “national, regional, and global security”.

“The agreement secures the effective operation of the joint facility on Diego Garcia into the next century,” the statement said. “This agreement affirms Mauritian sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago, while granting the United Kingdom the authority to exercise the sovereign rights of Mauritius with respect to Diego Garcia.”

Port Louis:

India on Tuesday reaffirmed its support to Mauritius on the issue of the Chagos Archipelago, a gesture which was swiftly appreciated by the island nation in the Indian Ocean.

India’s explicit public support regarding the Chagos Archipelago was conveyed by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, who is here for a two-day visit for engagements with the leadership of Mauritius to cement the bilateral ties that are critical for the future of the Indian Ocean region.

“As we look at our deep and enduring relationship, Prime Minister, I would like to again assure you today that on the issue of Chagos, India will continue its consistent support to Mauritius in line with its principal stand on decolonisation and support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of nations,” S Jaishankar said during an event here along with Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth.

Perhaps driven by a common colonial past – India was a colony of Great Britain – the sentiment was immediately reciprocated by Mauritius’ Foreign Minister Maneesh Gobin.

“We express our deep gratitude to @DrSJaishankar for reaffirming #India consistent support to #Mauritius regarding the #ChagosArchipelago, in alignment with India’s principled stance on #decolonisation, #sovereignty, and #TerritorialIntegrity,” Gobin posted on X soon after the event.

We express our deep gratitude to @DrSJaishankar for reaffirming #India consistent support to #Mauritius regarding the #ChagosArchipelago, in alignment with India’s principled stance on #decolonisation, #sovereignty, and #TerritorialIntegrity. @MEABharat@MEAIndia…

— Maneesh Gobin (@ManeeshGobin) July 16, 2024

Having an area of 60 square kilometres, the Chagos Archipelago, a group of atolls comprising 58 islands, is located approximately 2,200 km north-east of the main Island of Mauritius and about 1,700 km southwest of Thiruvananthapuram.

According to the Mauritius government website, the Chagos Archipelago has been part of the territory of the Republic of Mauritius since at least the 18th century when it was a French colony and was known as Ile de France.

“The Chagos Archipelago and all the other islands forming part of Ile de France were ceded by France to Britain in 1810, when Ile de France was renamed Mauritius. The administration of the Chagos Archipelago as a constituent part of Mauritius continued without interruption throughout the period of British rule until its unlawful excision from Mauritius in 1965,” it adds.

Mauritius has raised the issue on various international platforms, and there is a UNGA resolution of 2019 that affirms that “Chagos Archipelago forms an integral part of the territory of Mauritius,” and demands that “the UK withdraw its colonial administration from the Chagos Archipelago unconditionally within a period of not more than six months.” That has, however, not seen the light of the day.

According to a Human Rights Watch report on February 15, 2023, about 60 years ago, the United Kingdom government secretly planned, with the United States, to force an entire Indigenous people, the Chagossians, from their homes in the Chagos Archipelago.

The Indian Ocean islands were part of Mauritius, then a UK colony. The two governments agreed that a US military base would be built on Diego Garcia, the largest of the inhabited Chagos islands, and the island’s inhabitants would be removed.

The UK government split the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius, creating a new colony in Africa, the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), the Human Rights Watch report said.

During his meetings here, S Jaishankar also reaffirmed during his speech India’s consistent and continued support to Mauritius in its quest for progress as he held wide-ranging talks with the country’s leadership.

According to the Indian High Commission at Mauritius website, India has close, long-standing relations with Mauritius, an island nation in the Western Indian Ocean, owing to historical, demographic and cultural reasons.

A key reason for the special ties is the fact that Indian-origin people comprise nearly 70 per cent of the island’s population of 1.2 million, it added.

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